Life Photo Meme: Narrow

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Order: Octopoda

Family: Octopodidae

This little two-spot octopus was only about 2 months old when the picture was taken. He (or she) would be able to fit into VERY narrow spaces, as the only hard part on its body is its beak. An adult two-spot octopus can get up to three feet in length (arm to arm), and has a beak about the size of you pinkie fingernail. This little guy was almost an inch (arm to arm), so I can't even imagine how small its beak is. But I do know that it fit into the most amazingly small spaces to enact its escapes.

This little octo is still going strong at the aquarium, and is about 6 months old at this point. We have had some success in feeding it, even though its diet constantly changes as it grows. Its about 2.5 inches from arm to arm now. Hopefully, we will be able to raise it to adulthood.

Bats!

While wandering the internet, I came across this post by Carl Zimmer which was all about bats in motion. If you've ever wanted to know how bats fly, land, and feed, go over to The Loom and check it out. There are some truly amazing videos in slow motion that shows all those things and more... Really one of the best posts I've read in a while.

Photohunter: Yellow

This is a black dorid (Polycera atra) that I caught feeding on some bryozoans I collected for my thesis. I have caught at least four different species of nudibranch (sea slugs) as I am collecting their main food source, but I think this one is my favorite for its coloration. These nudibranchs tend to e a little toxic, as they concentrate the toxins from their food source in their tissues, so the beautiful patterns are used to warn off would-be predators. Some nudibranchs take a different route, and use their coloration to blend in with their food source so well, it is hard to see them even when you look very closely.

Life Photo Meme: Quiet

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Atheriniformes

Family: Atherinopsidae

These are grunion (Leuresthes tenuis). Found off the coast of California, these fish breed from March to July. Approximately three days after the full and new moons, these fish throw themselves on the sandy beaches of southern CA to lay their eggs. Any noise causes them to quickly flop back into the ocean.

Females bury themselves upright in the sand, while males lay on top of the sand next to the females. After the eggs are laid in the sand and fertilized, both sexes return to the ocean. The female can lay up to 3,000 eggs on a single night, and will return to the beach each time the tide is right.

Eggs take about 9 days to develop, but won't hatch until the waves from the high tides break them open, about 12 to 14 days later. Here is a picture of the developing eggs at about 6 days of age. You can already see the well-developed eyes.



If you were to look at these eggs under a microscope you can also see small red blood cells flowing through the blood vessels covering the yolk. You can also see the heart beating ( in this video, it looks like the heart is above the eyes). The tail and its associated muscles are also well developed and serve to move the small fish around in its egg.

Life Photo Meme: Hairy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Annelida

Class: Polychaeta

Order: Aciculata

Family: Aphroditidae

This is my favorite annelid. It is called a sea mouse, and from the top it is very difficult to distinguish as a worm as it is covered in seate (or chaete, depending on who you ask). It is not until you take a look at its underside, that you can see the segmentation common to worms, and the parapodia special to polychaetes.

The sea mouse can reach 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm), and lives on the sea floor in from subtidal areas to moderately deep waters. (This particular sea mouse was caught in a benthic trawl at ~150 ft (50 m). They are active hunters and feed on other polychaete worms.

There is some interest in the optical properties of their seate. The seate projecting from the parapodia are often a copper color, but can turn a bluish-green when see from the right angle (and when not covered in mud). The crystalline formation of the seate is far more efficient in handling light than current man-made optical fibers [1].