popsealife: “Aren’t They Precious These angelic images are of baby eels, also known as leptocephali. Figures A and F show moray eel leptocephali. Don’t they look just like mommy? Leptocephali are almost totally see-through. They have colorless blood,...
Pop-up View Separately

popsealife:

Aren’t They Precious

These angelic images are of baby eels, also known as leptocephali. Figures A and F show moray eel leptocephali. Don’t they look just like mommy?

Leptocephali are almost totally see-through. They have colorless blood, and their bodies are composed mostly of a transparent, gelatinous material that serves as both energy storage and structural support (since they’re just so damn frail). 

Despite their fragile appearance, leptocephali are actually pretty good swimmers. They exhibit the highly efficient anguilliform swimming style, suited for long-term, slow swimming. 

Depending on the species, eels may remain in this larval stage for as long as 250 days, before undergoing metamorphosis. 

After metamorphosis, they grow into juveniles, then into the fully-mature adult eels we know and love. *tear*

Image source: Miller. 2009.

Reference: Miller. 2009.

(via moreanimalia)

Source: popsealife

unexplained-events: “Top picture: 1987 Dr. Zbigniew Religa monitors his patient’s vitals after a 23 hour long heart transplant surgery. His assistant is asleep in the corner. Photograph taken by James Stanfield. Bottom picture: His patient who...
Zoom Info
unexplained-events: “Top picture: 1987 Dr. Zbigniew Religa monitors his patient’s vitals after a 23 hour long heart transplant surgery. His assistant is asleep in the corner. Photograph taken by James Stanfield. Bottom picture: His patient who...
Zoom Info

unexplained-events:

Top picture: 1987 Dr. Zbigniew Religa monitors his patient’s vitals after a 23 hour long heart transplant surgery. His assistant is asleep in the corner. Photograph taken by James Stanfield.

Bottom picture: His patient who survived and actually went on to outlive Dr. Religa.

Dr. Religa was also the first surgeon to graft an artificial valve using materials from human corpses. He lead a team that completed the first successful heart transplantation in Poland. Him and his team obtained the Brusseis Eureka award for developing an implantable pump for a pneumatic heart assistance system.

(via unexplained-events)