madamjellyfish666:

Ogcocephalus porrectus

Look at this beaut!!
This is the rosy-lipped batfish, a wonderful little fish found near Cocos Island off the coast of Costa Rica. This bottom-dwelling fish can be found at depths ranging from 90 to 450 feet and when fully-grown it measures about the size of an adult open hand. Its nearly flat on top, and spreads its pectoral fins out to its sides. A slow and clumsy character, the rosy-lipped batfish uses its pectoral and pelvic fins like legs to crawl on the ocean floor rather than swim. Ichthyologist and batfish expert John McCosker says they prefer to “sit upright, like old tail-dragging airplanes.”
When the batfish reaches adulthood, its dorsal fin becomes a single spine-like projection that lures prey. Similar to the anglerfish the rosy-lipped batfish has a structure on its head known as a rostrum - a structure which protects a thin, retractable appendage that the batfish deploys to lure small edible fishes. Rosy-lipped batfish are voracious, carnivorous eaters who prefer a diet consisting mainly of small fish, shrimps, mollusks and crabs.

Rosy-lipped batfish has judged you and found you wanting.

(via scinerds)

astronomy-to-zoology:

How do jellyfish sting?

the science of cnidocytes and nematocysts

jellyfish don’t sting through electricity or by touch. Jellyfish sting through a special type of cell called a Cnidocyte, there are three types of cnidocytes currently known. Spirocysts which entangle their prey, Ptychocysts which build tubes for tube anemones and the most well known Nematocysts. Nematocysts consist of a toxic barb which is coiled on a thread inside the cindocyte, when triggered the barb is ejected almost instantly taking only 700 nanoseconds to fire and firing with a force of five million g’s. A cindoctye can only fire once, and must be replaced when fired a process that could take 2 days.

Source,Source

(via thescienceofreality)

huffpostgreen:

earth-song:

Peacock mantis shrimp- The peacock of sea

This extraordinary beastie is a marvel to see but also has super natural vision.
It views the world in 11 or 12 primary colors, as opposed humans who only see 3 making it possible for them to perceive both polarized light and hyperspectral color vision. Not to mention they possess super strength in their claws, that can break aquarium glass. During mating rituals, mantis shrimp actively fluoresce, and the wavelength of this fluorescence matches the wavelengths detected by their eye pigments. Females are only fertile during certain phases of the tidal cycle; the ability to perceive the phase of the moon may therefore help prevent wasted mating efforts. It may also give mantis shrimp information about the size of the tide, which is important for species living in shallow water near the shore.

[read more]

So beautiful!

Since the [read more] bit up there isn’t linky and I wasn’t sure that we weren’t being punked, I went a’Googling and found this in Science Magazine:

When they strike, they swing out their dactyl clubs, armlike appendages normally held close to their bodies, at 80 kilometers per hour, accelerating faster than a .22-caliber bullet.

I mean, y’know, like y’do.

Also, this is probably the wrong scientific thing to think upon learning about a new and wondrous life form, but these guys look delicious.

stufftoblowyourmind:

rhamphotheca:

Dorsal and ventral views of Australian Giant Cuttlefish, Sepia apama

lithographic proofs from Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria, John James Wild

(via: Museum Victoria)

Naturally, I’m a sucker for anything cuttlefish related. /Robert

They just look so snuggly.

scinerds:

earth-song:

Frogfish: The Ocean’s Disguise Artists

Biomimicry is one of evolution’s most mind-blowing avenues of adaptation. It’s one thing to adapt thanks to maxing out the biological limits of speed, or selecting for the ever-longer, better-feeding necks of giraffes or the ability to use a new, untapped food source at the bottom of the ocean. But to become another life form? It shows us that natural selection is not only a powerful force, but also a delicate one, fine-tuning things like colors and patterns like only the finest human artists can.

Above are three examples of frogfish biomimicry, a family of fish that separately mimics algae, sponges and even sea urchins. They evolved these costumes as a way to avoid predators and become better predators themselves. Check out an in-depth post about frogfish biomimicry at Why Evolution is True (wait until you see them eat!), and if you want more here’s a whole website (Comic Sans warning!) dedicated to frogfish camo.

[Read more]

I’ll have all of them, thanks.

Creatures that look like Muppets are basically my favorite.