Even the cops in Hollywood are Hollywood

headlikeanorange:

A male fiddler crab trying to attract a female. (Les Animaux Amoureux)

rhamphotheca:

Zombie Worms Drill Whale Bones With Acid

by Douglas Main

So-called zombie worms — and yes, they actually exist — like to munch on whale bones for dinner. The creatures also use the bones for shelter. Spread throughout the world’s oceans, zombie worms are quite adept at making the bones of whales and other large marine animals look like Swiss cheese.    

But these worms don’t have any mouthparts with which to gnaw the holes. So how do they do it? A study published in the May 1 online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that rather than being “bone-drilling” worms, they’re actually “bone-dissolving” worms: The worms’ skin produces acid in large quantities to break down bones…

(read more: Live Science)             

(photo: Martin Tresguerres et al / Proceedings of the Royal Society B)

(via mad-as-a-marine-biologist)

rhamphotheca:

California Sea Hare

The image at left shows a California sea hare (Aplysia californica), a type of sea slug, inking. Looking a little like a rabbit, sea hares are a common treasure in Santa Barbara’s Coal Oil Point tidepools. They can get up to 16 pounds but are usually more like three to four pounds in the lower pools. Although these slugs appear to be just a big blob, they have a hidden trick — beautiful purple ink that can be released from a gland in their mantle cavity if you reach inside the skin flaps on the top and tickle them. In nature, this acts as a smoke screen (similar to an octopus’ ink). California sea hares are herbivorous, with a diet consisting primarily of red and brown seaweed, which gives the animal its typically dark coloration.

(Image credit: Genny Anderson, Santa Barbara City College)

(via: NSF Science 360)

(via iheartnudibranchs)

uncalar:

Iron Manatee: I drew a thing. Did it make you happy? Would you like to make me happy too? Please donate to my wife’s MS Walk for the Cure! http://tinyurl.com/brwjrcf

(via itsfunnytome)

iheartnudibranchs:

theoceaniswonderful:

38_adj_DSC3616 unusual nudibranch by edpdiver

Pteraeolidia ianthina?

(via itsfunnytome)

(Source: lyinglies, via thatgeekyfandom)