ilovecephalopods: “did-you-kno: “Octopuses can mate without leaving the house. Because the male’s sex organ is at the end of his arm, he can set up his den next to a female’s, stretch his sex arm all the way to her house, and get the job done from...
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ilovecephalopods:

did-you-kno:

Octopuses can mate without leaving the house. Because the male’s sex organ is at the end of his arm, he can set up his den next to a female’s, stretch his sex arm all the way to her house, and get the job done from afar whenever he feels like it. Scientists call it the ‘distance position,’ and it also allows smaller males to mate with a larger male’s girlfriend because they can move in close to give her the reach-around when he isn’t looking. Source Source 2

sex arm

(via ilovecephalopods)

Source: didyouknowblog.com

typhlonectes:

The curious courtship of the bigfin reef squid  

Is this a visitor from another planet? Very few aquariums in the world are displaying this bizarre species, which we first exhibited in 2012.  

Like many cephalopods, bigfin reef squid use pigmented skin cells, called chromatophores, to change color and pattern. Specific patterns and colors are used by males and females during mating, to attract one another. Each female lays 1,000-6,000 eggs, which take approximately three weeks to incubate. After mating, the adults die. They can live as long as 11 months.

via: Monterey Bay Aquarium

(via montereybayaquarium)

Source: typhlonectes

why-animals-do-the-thing:

science-fiction-is-real:

mizshylock:

itseasytoremember:

my favourite thing about big dogs is when you push ‘em over they’re just like 

“oh i’m lying down now! someone might scratch my stomach!!! i might nap!! endless possibilities!!!’

Whereas you push little dogs over and they’re all like “Vengeance! Death before dishonor!”

I think this is because little dogs are used to constantly having their personal space violated and their agency completely and totally disrespected.  Little dogs are picked up, shoved aside, played with like dolls, and man handled.  They have little control over their own bodies and so they learn to protect themselves through aggression.

Big dogs are touched constantly, but they don’t ever have the experience of having their space and free will completely shat upon because they are too big to man handle  So they associate human touch with only positive things.

I’d guess the best thing to to is treat your little dog like a big dog.  Don’t pick your dog up unless you know your dog wants to be picked up.  Don’t treat it like a doll, don’t shove it around.  Use your voice and its training to control it and not your hands and feet, just like you would for a big dog.  DOGS LIKE HUMANS HAVE PERSONAL SPACE AND A NEED FOR BODILY INTEGRITY.

@why-animals-do-the-thing, I’m not a behavior expert but you are, what do you think?

You’re spot on, for the most part. Little dogs don’t get bodily autonomy the way big dogs do, and they learn their only option for preventing things they don’t want is their teeth. Big dogs may not have entirely positive associations with touch, but they’re generally much more secure about their ability to control how the world interacts with them and that they can end an interaction they don’t like. 

(via moreanimalia)

Source: itseasytoremember

Update from the deep sea!

montereybayaquarium:

image

Our colleagues at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have only seen the Haliphron atlanticus octopus three times in 27 years. 

Recently they spotted one carrying an egg-yolk jelly and made a discovery about this elusive species: It looked as though Haliphron had not only made a meal of the jelly, but was hanging onto it, perhaps for defense or for help in catching prey! 

moreanimalia:

why-animals-do-the-thing:

speciesofleastconcern:

bogleech:

There can be no death in the animal kingdom so simultaneously horrifying, pathetic and hilarious than just getting swallowed whole head first by a big snail while you’re fucking sleeping

#are you kidding me#that snail has through millions of years evolved to be a predator#and that fish has evolved to escape from predators

I like how this hearkens back to some of the most primitive single-celled predators: you just fucking engulf the entire other animal, glomp.

There are so many cool things to talk about with cone snails and their predation habits that this only brushes the surface of it! 

Cone snails are nocturnal predators with some really impressive chemical weapons at their command - they not only paralyze their prey but are thought to release chemicals into the water to help calm prey before they even attack. Each type of cone snail is super super-specialized for the type of prey they go after and how they hunt. Some snails are vermivores that hunt and eat worms, some snails are molluscivores that eat other shellfish, and some (like this one) are piscavores who hunt and eat fish. All cone snails use toxins to immobilize their prey and assist with the hunt, but what’s incredible is that within the piscavore cone snails there are two separate sub-groups - they hunt differently and utilize different types of venom. 

Most fish-eating cone snails paralyze their prey by sticking them with an envenomed “harpoon” they extend out from their body - once the prey is stuck, they reel it back toward their body and then engulf it. The conotoxin mixture used in this hunting method paralyzes the fish in a rigid posture so it can be reeled back to the snail without risk of injury or escape. 

image

Some piscavores, though, use a ‘net feeding’ technique like what is seen in this video. It’s often used to engulf multiple small fish, but the snail in this video is using it to grab a prey item much larger than itself. Once the prey is mostly in the snail’s net, it is jabbed with a “harpoon” carrying conotoxins that paralyze them in a relaxed posture so they can be more effectively swallowed. 

image

For more information about the incredible that is cone snails and some great videos, go to The Cone Snail. (Hunting snail images are sourced from one of their great articles). 

Nature ….

(via moreanimalia)

Source: bogleech

oceanstuff: “The Mimic Octopus This fascinating creature was discovered in 1998 off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia on the bottom of a muddy river mouth. For the next 2 years, scientists filmed nine different mimic octopuses, Thaumoctopus mimicus...
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oceanstuff:

The Mimic Octopus

This fascinating creature was discovered in 1998 off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia on the bottom of a muddy river mouth. For the next 2 years, scientists filmed nine different mimic octopuses, Thaumoctopus mimicus (Norman & Hochberg, 2005), impersonating sea snakes, lionfish, and flatfish—a strategy used to avoid predators. Mimic octopuses reach about 60 cm in length and are typically brown and white striped.

Mimic octopuses have been observed shifting between impersonations as it crosses the ocean floor to return to its burrow.
Scientists speculate that additional mimic species will be found in muddy river and estuary bottoms in the tropics as these areas are typically unexplored.