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TRICK or a TREAT!
Leave a comment and tell us what you got!
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Above, Bot Fly Larvae! by Marcel Rawady
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Above, Glossodoris coi by David Henshaw
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Above, Chromodoris willani by eunice khoo
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Above, parasitoid larva! by Bonnie Ott
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Above, Lice on eyelashes! From here
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Above, Phyllodesmium serratum by Matt Tworkowski
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Above, Leucochloridium paradoxum! by Stevie Smith
An intriguing parasite which invades the eyestalks of some snail species. It then alters the snails behaviour to seek out light, where the infected eyes appear as moving worms which attract, then are eaten by birds, where they mature and lay eggs in the birds rectum, being then passed out to begin the lifecycle again through the snail host.
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Above, Kunes Chromodoris by Matt Tworkowski
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Above, Digidentis arbuta by Matt Tworkowski
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Above, Fly pooping! by Henry Lallianzuala
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Above, Nembrotha lineolata by David Henshaw
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Above, Janolus sp. by digidiverdeb
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Above, Tick! by scubaluna
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Above, Chromodoris alcalai by Brian Mayes
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Above, Fly Anus! by greffeb
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Above, Poison fangs of a centipede! by Walter A. Piorkowski
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Above, Chromodoris kuniei by Marco Waagmeester
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Above, Chromodoris quadricolor by Rafi Amar
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Above, Taenia solium (tapeworm)! by Teresa Zgoda
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Above, Pteraeolidia ianthina by Brian Mayes
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Above, Naegleria fowleri aka The Brain Eating Ameoba! source
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Main image by unknown (found searching for 'Halloween question mark image' and has a dead link)
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Main Photo by paulhypnos
Meet the deeply fabulous Blue Glaucus, or Glaucus atlanticus... aka Blue Dragon, Sea Swallow, Blue Angel, Blue Sea Slug, Blue Ocean Slug and Lizard Nudibranch!
Photo by Atli Arnarson
They free float (upside down) and drift in currents by swallowing air bubbles and storing them in a gas-filled sac to maintain buoyancy!
As they drift in the ocean currents they are vulnerable to being washed up on beaches after storms...
Photo by M Hooper
Photo by csm2mk RTW
They are found in temperate and tropical ocean waters worldwide, specifically the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans! Although they have been found east and south coasts of South Africa, in European waters, near Mozambique, and off Australiaβs east coast.
It's beautiful colouring help them to camouflage with the ocean and sky!
Their body has a form of coloration known as countershading. The dorsal side (facing downward) is silvery grey, camouflaging it against the seas bright surface. While the ventral area (facing upwards) is dark and pale blue, and its head is covered with dark blue stripes, camouflaging against the seas blue colour!
Photo found here
This combination of colours and the countershading on its body gives it protection from predators above and below!
They grow to around 3cm when mature, and live between 1 month to up to a year!
Always a good idea to handle a poisonous creature!
Photo by Zekoo1
Their bodies are flattened, and tapered and sport six appendages that branch out into 84 finger-like cerata.
Photo by Sylke Rohrlach
They are voracious predators, their favoured prey is the Portuguese man oβ war. This looks like a jellyfish, but is actually a cnidarian and has numerous stinging cells (nematocysts) in its tentacles
Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis Photo by Helene Hoffman
They transfer undigested nematocysts (stinging cells) from their prey to the cerata to use them to sting when hunting, or if it feels threatened!
Sexual reproduction could be problematic for a creature with a deadly sting....Fortunately, they have long, curved S-shape bends in their penises to avoid injury!
Blue Glaucus Party!!
Photo found here
They lay strings of 12-20 eggs, which they deposit on the carcasses of their prey, or left on any other floating mass they encounter!
Photo by Todd Aki
As well as the Portuguese man o' war, they will also eat by-the-wind-sailor velella, the Blue Button, and the violet snail.... as well as each other!
Porpita porpita- Blue Button Photo by paulhypnos
Stalking a Blue Button....
Photo by paulhypnos
Apart from cannibalism, the Loggerhead Sea Turtle is one of the main predators of the Blue Glaucus.
Dinner......
Photo by J_turner6
Info via American Ocean and Treehugger
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Main photo, Four-colour Nudibranch - Godiva quadricolor, by Rafi Amar
Godiva quadricolor is found on the South African coast from the Cape Peninsula to East London, and is an aeolid nudibranch!
Above, by Gary Cobb and David Mullin
It grows between 35-58mm in length and lives at depths up to 20 m!
Above, by Gary Cobb and David Mullin
It feeds on anemones and transfers its stinging cells to the cerata on its back giving it protection from predators....
Above, via Science Photo Library
......It will also eat other nudibranchs!
Above photo, by Guido Villani
It has also been reported from the Mediterranean, off western Australia and West Africa (although the ones found in Australia differ in colour, and may be another species)
....Here it is laying eggs!
Above, photo by Guido Villani
Info via wikipedia, here, and here!
edit- I forgot to do the image pop out thing yet again
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Main image, Pikachu Nudibranch - Thecacera pacifica, by Rafi Amar
Thecacera pacifica is a species of Dorid nudibranch, It is also known as the Pikachu nudibranch!
Above, Photo by Connie Chen
It is found on the African coast of the Indian Ocean (Mozambique), Indonesia and Vanuatu. It has also been found on the Gulf of Mexico!
Above, Photo by Brian Mayes
They grow to around 2-3cm in length, and live underneath loose rock and sand!
A video of one wobbling around in the sea!
They also seem to have some variety in colour and patterning....!
Above, Photo by Francis Lau
Above, Photo by Ludovic
Info via wikipedia, and seaslugforum
edit- Once again I forgot to do the pop out image thing
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Antiopella cristata, by Jose SalmerΓ³n
It is a gift from the sea to find it, for me the most beautiful nudibranch in the Mediterranean.
I like to investigate the origin of the names of the species and I especially liked the one of this nudi price:
"Antiopella" the fact that it is a marine animal and in particular a nudibranch suggests that it is Antiope, the daughter of the guardian of the winds Aeolus and Enarete, lover of Poseidon, there it isππ
cristata: from Latin [cristatus, a, um] = crested, crested, related to the caruncle among the rhinophores.
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Main image, Glossodoris Sedna by Cajo Producciones
Above Glossodoris stellatus by digidiverdeb
Above Glossodoris angasi by Brian Mayes
Above Glossodoris acosti by Rafi Amar
Above Glossodoris hikuerensis by @halimeda
Above Glossodoris atromarginata by Wisnu Purwanto
Above Glossodoris sedna by Guillem Mas
Above Colemans Glossodoris by Steve Gillespie
Above Glossodoris cincta by Luc L. Legrand (thanks for 7 M views)
Above Glossodoris rufomarginata by divemecressi
Above Gossodoris cincta by jack pokoj
Above Glossodoris atromarginata by divemecressi
Above Glossodoris rufomarginata mating by Ludovic
Above Glossodoris cruenta by Tavistock
Above Averns Glossodoris with a Colemans Glossodoris by Steve Gillespie
Above Glossodoris sp. 16
Above Glossodoris sibogae by Thomas Vignaud
Above Glossodoris sp. 10
Above Glossodoris electra
Above Glossodoris rubroannulata
Above Glossodoris buko by Bernard Picton
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Main photo by ilan Lubitz
Elysia marginata are Sacoglassons (a type of sea slug) and are found in the Indo-Pacific ocean at depths of 0-10 metres
Above photo by budak
They eat algae and store the chloroplasts in its body. The chloroplasts continue to photosynthesize and provide its host with a source of food!
Above 'Pair of leaf slugs on algae. They feed on green algae and can grow from 3 to 8cm long. Photo by Wesley Oosthuizen.' source
They have the ability to regenerate a completely new body (including a new heart) from their head, after it detaches itself from its old body! (A process called autotomy- self amputation)
Above photo by Sonja Ooms
Their ability was discovered by Sayaka Mitoh, a doctoral student at Nara Women's University in Japan, who spotted the decapitated head of E. marginata circling its separated body in one of the tanks in the lab
Above 'This image shows the head and the body of Elysia cf. marginata, a day after autotomy.' (Image credit: Sayaka Mitoh) source
Quite naturally she thought the slug would soon die, however..
"After a few days, the head started regenerating the body and I could see [the] beating of the heart. It was unbelievable," Mitoh told Live Science. "I was really happy and relieved when I found it could regenerate the body." source
- A, Head and body of Elysia cf. marginata, just after autotomy (day 0), with the pericardium (heart) remaining in body section (arrow)
- B, day 7
- C, day 14
- D, day 22, showing whole-body regeneration.
- E, Head and body of Elysia atroviridis (individual no. 1) just after autotomy (day 0).
Above text and photo source
The head continued to grow its new body over the next 3 weeks, including all vital organs, reaching about 80% of its original size!
Above gif source
"The [original] body continues to move and live for days to months," Mitoh said. "You can see the heart beating" inside them, she added. However, the decapitated bodies did not appear to be capable of growing new heads themselves. source
The old bodies remained active for several days to months, until they started to shrink, turn pale due to the chloroplast loss, and eventually died. The beating heart remained visible until the body had fully decomposed!
So, why such an extreme behaviour?
In other animals self amputation usually occurs when escaping a predator, however this may not be the case here....
Above photo by budak
The head can take several hours to detach from the body, so not exactly a quick get away from a predator
Instead it is suspected that it is a means of ridding itself of parasites. There is a slight groove towards the end of the head which acts as a breakage plane, and the similar head severing species Elysia atroviridis all had internal parasites when they detached from their bodies....
However, no parasites were detected in Elysia marginata that did the same.....
Above photo by Javier Diaz Frogmen
The ingested chloroplasts are thought to help in the regeneration of the new body and keep the head alive in the absence of the digestive system organs (which remain with the body).
One individual that was studied underwent autonomy and regeneration twice, which researches think is the limit...(which probably means it didn't survive the third time scientists went to work with a scalpel)
Interestingly this behaviour was only exhibited by young Elysia marginata. When older animals were decapitated their heads survived up to 10 days, and didn't regenerate before dying
Above photo by Antonio Venturelli
All information from wikipedia, here, here, here, here, here and here
As always I'm not an expert, any errors let me know in the comments and I'll edit
And I shall leave you all with a reprise of my current favourite gif....
