rasec-wizzlbang:

typhlonectes:

Video! The sea slug that looks and swims like a fish 

Out there in the open ocean is a nudibranch sea slug that looks like a fish, and for the last five months I’ve been obsessed with it. I wrote an article about this fishy slug, called Phylliroe, back in November (link to original article here, which is also posted below). But despite all my best efforts (including harassing friends and colleagues) I wasn’t able to find a video. So I’ve been looking every few weeks ever since.

Kaj Maney*, an underwater videographer and owner of Dive Centre in Ambon, Indonesia, was rummaging through some old files when he found the video below. He had no idea what the animal was, so he asked for help on the Facebook group “Marine Creature Identification.” And once he realized he’d filmed a Phylliroe he sent the video to me. Kaj told me via email that “the funniest/saddest thing is that I had completely forgotten that I had ever filmed it!!” And it’s flat out the best wild Phylliroe video I’ve seen! …

(read more: Deep Sea News)

Yesss

I’ve been looking for videos of these guys for months now

(via nirdian)

Source: typhlonectes

typhlonectes:

Zoologger:  Octopus makes own quicksand to build burrow on seabed

by Agata Blaszczak-Boxe

Species: The southern sand octopus (Octopus kaurna)
Habitat: The seafloor on the south-eastern coast of Australia

The southern sand octopus has taken hide-and-seek to a whole new level. It shoots jets of water into the seafloor creating quicksand that allows it to vanish.

image

A skilled architect, the octopus can build a mucus-lined home – complete with a chimney –20 centimetres down into the seabed, where it holes up during the day. It only emerges from its underground burrow at night to crawl over the seafloor and snack on small crustaceans.

Now, its unique burrowing technique has been revealed for the first time…

(read more: New Scientist)