The glowing “firefly squid” of Toyama, Japan. Each tentacle contains a photophore which produces light to attract small fish for the squid to feed on.
(via teascript)
So my favourite animal is the octopus. They’re so weird but in a strange way so graceful! My favourite is probably the mimic octopus Thaumoctopus mimicus (image 3). It can change it’s colour and behaviour to replicate other sea creatures including giant crabs, stingrays and jellyfish and by doing this can evade predators. Pretty cool!
Also the top two are the blue-ringed octopus and the dumbo octopus if anyone was wondering. c:
(via shhhmagpie)
The vampire squid, Vampyroteuthis infernalis also known as the vampire squid from hell, is a cephalopod that lives throughout the world’s temperate and tropical oceans. The vampire squid is named for its jet-black skin(although color varies from black to red to purple and seems to depend on the light conditions), the caped appearance of the webbing between the arms, and eyes that appear red under some light conditions (the eyes appear blue when viewed from a submersible).
(via subpixels)
These little, gelatinous “people” are siphonophores, like the Portuguese Man O’ War. I cannot find a species name or any more information ANYWHERE.
Immortal Jellyfish. By: h16nakaji
Turritopsis nutricula, the immortal jellyfish, is a hydrozoan whose medusa, or jellyfish, form can revert to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage. It does this through the cell development process of trans-differentiation. Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish “alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell”. In this process the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on indefinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal.
(via kalael)
transparent specimens series
These are gorgeous. Like the Secret Life of Plankton video, but bigger! Lovely stuff.
(via allsmilesandafatkid)
Chromodoris willani by Samantha Craven
This species of nudibranch is named for the renowned nudibranch taxonomist Dr. Richard C. Willan.
Chromodoris willani is similar in appearance to Chromodoris lochi, Chromodoris boucheti and Chromodoris dianae. This species can be distinguished by the very prominent white specks found on the gills and rhinophores. Individuals in this species can range in color from dark blue to a translucent white. All have black stripes with the center-most stripe typically being non-continuous.
(via acnebomb)
