Tag: sea creatures

typhlonectes:

New Luminous Creatures Illuminate the Mystery of the Red Sea

via: Lomonosov Moscow State University

During the investigations of the biodiversity of coral reefs of the
archipelago Farasan (Saudi Arabia, south of the Red Sea), biologists
observed marine life under the UV-light with yellow filters. As a result
they found “fluorescent lanterns,” that were very similar to hydrae
from the Biology school textbooks.

But unlike their distant relatives
who lead a solitary life in fresh water new species from the Red Sea
form spreading colonies decorating miniature shells of gastropods Nassarius margaritifer
(20-35 mm in length) with garlands of green lights. These molluscs bury
themselves in the sediment during the day and at night crawl out to the
surface to hunt other invertebrates.

“Sea hydroids, unlike hydrae, are often found in colonies and
can branch off tiny jellyfish,” – says Vyacheslav Ivanenko, one of the
authors of the research, the leading researcher of the Department of
Invertebrate Zoology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. “The
unusual green glow of these hydrozoas (presumably, a new species of the
genus Cytaeis, whose body length reaches 1.5 mm) was revealed in the peristomal area of the body…”

(read more: Science Direct)

photograph by Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko et al.

Source: typhlonectes

skunkbear:

In 1950, a flatworm-like creature (named Xenoturbella bocki) was discovered off the coast of Sweden. It didn’t seem to fit in any existing order of animals.

But now, this odd species has company. A paper in Nature magazine announced four new species of Xenoturbella species. They were discovered by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, the Western Australian Museum, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute of the coast of California and Mexico.

These strange animals have no brain, not gut, no gonads, no eyes, no kidneys and no anus. They have just one hole: their mouth. The genus name means “strange flatworm.” One of the new species is called Xenoturbella churro after the Latin American fried dough snack.

Source: skunkbear

realmonstrosities:

Even the goofiest of faces deserve the prettiest of shells!

Button Tops (Umbonium vestiarium) reach about 2 cm across and live on sandy beaches from Africa to Australia.

They have beautiful little shells that come in a vast array of colours and patterns, but that doesn’t mean you’ll actually get to see them…

Button Tops are usually almost entirely buried beneath the surface of the sand. The only things that poke out above the surface are their tentacles, eye stalks and two tubes known as siphons.

One siphon sucks in water and filters out tiny bits of food, the other siphon ejects the water back out again.

Personally, I don’t know what I like better, the face or the shell!

…Images: 

Ria Tan

Source: realmonstrosities