Kaiju molted!
The shell is amazing, it looks like an entire other animal. I’m keeping the claws to dry preserve and she’s getting the rest of it back so she can eat it. (Its good for them)
(via moreanimalia)
Source: zooophagous
Pill bugs (aka roly polies or doodle bugs) aren’t bugs at all. Though commonly referred to as such, pill bugs are actually land-dwelling crustaceans that are much more closely related to shrimp and crayfish than to any kind of insect. Source Source 2
(via unbadgr)
Source: didyouknowblog.com
JEWEL-LIKE CRUSTACEAN FROM THE DEEP SEA
Amphipods are small crustacean that inhabits all acuatic environments, from ocean depths to groundwater, in freshwater systems, also found in caves and sea ice. Their feeding strategies are various: detrital feeders, herbivores, scavengers and suspension feeder, over 800 Species of amphipods are know worldwide.
These amphipods of the families Epimeriidae and Iphimediidae are among the prettiest, these living gems are predominantly red, and fades quicly with increasing depth. They are foud in the Southern Ocean and are tiny, just 2-4cm long.
At 1950 m Epimeria larsi, aka the pink gem holds the deepest known species record for the genus, and was collected from the northern Ross Sea slope.
- Photo: Top left: Epimeria rimicarinata; Top right: E. larsi; Middle row: E. schiaparelli (named after the photographer); Bottom right: Epimeria robusta. The bottom left image is of a closely related genus, Echiniphimedia, aptly named the ‘prickly’ amphipod. Credit: Stefano Schiaparelli (University of Genoa) and David Bowden (NIWA)/ IPY CAML voyage TAN0802.
- More NIWA
- more about Antarctic amphipods
(via nirdian)
Source: todropscience
Some Kaiju close ups! Every day I’m amazed at how complex these animals are. It seems like overkill how many little jigsaw pieces go into them, especially their mouths, what’s up with that? A crayfish is a sarcastic rainbow of an animal with hard mean bits and sharp edges all over, with some nonsensical furry whiskers in seemingly random places and long graceful antennae that seem like more trouble than they’re worth.
Though they superficially resemble the common land dwelling insect the cockroach (and like the cockroach will consume anything in front of them) the crayfish does not scurry and hide when set upon but rather takes arms against a sea of troubles and endeavors (occasionally with success) to inflict bodily harm on the attacker. Though it stands little chance of winning, it ensures its captor’s victory is a costly one.
Every day I stop at her tank to feed her, and every day I admire her tenacity, ferocity, complexity and otherwordly beauty. Little Kaiju blue, little cherax quadricarinatus, I love you.
(via moreanimalia)
Source: zooophagous
(via oceank1ng)
Source: twitter.com
