Given the internet’s obsession with both large cephalopods and bizarre animals, you’d think blanket octopuses would be all over it by now. I mean, a two-meter-long octopus… Read more “Six Reasons the Blanket Octopus is My New Favorite Stunning Sea Creature”
Category: Anatomy
This may be the ocean’s most horrifying monster (and you’ve probably never heard of it)
When I first learned about rhizocephalan barnacles I lost my appetite. I was taking a parasitology course, and even though I’d developed a thick skin, something about… Read more “This may be the ocean’s most horrifying monster (and you’ve probably never heard of it)”
Meet Phylliroe: the sea slug that looks and swims like a fish
This article first appeared at Deep Sea News Biologists have a habit of naming things after cool animals. Cars named after comb jellies, internet passwords after giant squid.… Read more “Meet Phylliroe: the sea slug that looks and swims like a fish”
Ripping yourself out from the inside: The story of a starfish’s birth (and yours, too)
Baby starfish are actually magical ocean fairies called bipinnaria that swim whimsically through the sea: Yes, this wee young thing is a starfish, though it looks nothing… Read more “Ripping yourself out from the inside: The story of a starfish’s birth (and yours, too)”
How do jellyfish perceive the world?
This post is part of a new series on my recent paper: “Evolution and development of scyphozoan jellyfish.” I try really hard to make my research accessible,… Read more “How do jellyfish perceive the world?”
A Guide for Aquarists: Using Chemicals to Grow Jellyfish in Captivity
Hi all! Some of you may have read my post on a simple chemical method for inducing metamorphosis in a broad diversity of jelly species. In that post… Read more “A Guide for Aquarists: Using Chemicals to Grow Jellyfish in Captivity”
Jellyfish don’t throw-up or poop, they throop. They throop through their manus.
Ok ok. This post is already starting off like a bad 3rd-grade-boy joke. But seriously (butt seriously?)–that beautiful jellyfish pictured above, well, you’re looking right at its… Read more “Jellyfish don’t throw-up or poop, they throop. They throop through their manus.”
Video: Soft purple jellyfish covered in ribbons
Um, can we please go to Palawan (in the Philippines), tomorrow? This jelly, Lobonema sp., is one of my particular favs because its ancestors lost their tentacles (similar… Read more “Video: Soft purple jellyfish covered in ribbons”
The rainbow-covered jelly with a dark side
(this is a reboot of an old post that appeared on this site nearly two years ago, complete with new science and pictures!) Watching animals eat is like… Read more “The rainbow-covered jelly with a dark side”
Thousands of bright blue animals are washing ashore–what are they?
Over the past few months, odd floating jellies have been washing up on Pacific US beaches by the thousands. With clear plastic-like sails, and bright blue flesh, these harmless jellies… Read more “Thousands of bright blue animals are washing ashore–what are they?”
The Helm Lab Blog 