The Christmas Island red crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis) climb over an overpass to cross a road on Christmas Island during their migration.
These crabs live in burrows in the rainforest and when the wet season starts and the tide is right, over 65 million crabs start their mass synchronized 8km migration to lay their eggs in the sea. The crabs are single minded on their mission, with little care for obstacles such as car wheels. Handy then that they are getting a little help :)
These natives of the murky Amazon and Orinoco watersheds in South America use electricity to hunt for their next meal. Juveniles eat invertebrates, while adults feed on fish and sometimes small mammals. The fish can grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) with weight up to 44 pounds (20 kilograms).
They generate strong electric shocks with specialized organs made of hundreds of thousands of electroplates, which are modified nerve or muscle cells that can produce electricity. Think of a battery. Low-voltage shocks help with navigation (just look at their tiny eyes, they’re virtually blind!), while the high-voltage zaps have been noted during predatory attacks. The shock stuns the prey, while the electric eel is protected by a thick layer of insulation.
These are variations of bobtail squid. These tiny creatures live in the pacific and indian oceans within shallow water. They generally measure between 1 and 8cm long. They are usually recognized by their eight short tentacles and rounded shape.
Bobtail squid have a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria which inhabit a special light organ in the squid’s mantle. The bacteria are fed a sugar and amino acid solution by the squid and in return hide the squid’s silhouette when viewed from below by matching the amount of light hitting the top of the mantle.
A venus flytrap anemone releases a cloud of glowing goo to confuse predators in a laboratory image. The species is one of two deep-sea anemone species known to create their own light, the team says.
ANGEL OF THE SEA IS ACTUALLY SNAIL WITHOUT A SHELL
A 2005 Census of Marine Life expedition to the Arctic Ocean captured a so-called sea angel, Clione limacina, at about 1,148 feet (350 meters) underwater. Despite its nickname, this little angel apparently doesn’t mind showing a little skin: It’s actually a naked snail without a shell, scientists said in December 2009.
Quite literally, the veined octopus (Amphioctopus marinates) carries its nuts around with it- specifically the half-shells of a coconut. It reconstructs the shells and disappears inside it or underneath it when it wants to stay hidden from predators or if it wants to sneak up on prey. See the video to watch this octopus do its thang…
It has been hailed as the first invertebrate to use tools.
A team led by biologist Julian Finn of Museum Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, was observing 20 veined octopuses on a regular basis.
The researchers noticed that the animals were frequently using their approximately 15-centimeter-long tentacles to carry coconut shells bigger than their roughly 8-centimeter-wide bodies.
An octopus would dig up the two halves of a coconut shell, then use them as protective shielding when stopping in exposed areas or when resting in sediment.
This, on its own, astonished the team. Then they noticed that the octopuses, after using the coconut shells, would arrange them neatly below the centers of their bodies and “walk” around with the shells—awkwardly.
“I’ve always been impressed by what octopuses can do, but this was bizarre,” said study co-author Norman, senior curator for mollusks at Museum Victoria.
To carry the shells, a veined octopus has to stick its arms out and over the edges of the coconut and walk around as if on stilts—making the octopus, while in motion, more vulnerable to predators—study leader Finn explained.
“An octopus without shells can swim away much faster by jet propulsion,” he said. “But on endless mud seafloor, where are you fleeing to?” In other words, a coconut-carrying octopus may be slow, but it’s always got somewhere to hide.
Octopuses of many species are well known for their intelligence. In captivity they’ve been known to navigate mazes, seem to be able to remember past events, and are cunning escape artists.
If you’ve ever owned a goldfish you’ll know that these fish totally DO NOT have just a six-second memory.
Their intelligence stretches far enough for them to be able to tell their owners apart and to beg for food from specific people. They can also memorise the time of day that they are fed at and the place… so you will often see your fish congregating at a certain time each day for din dins.
If you thought fish were cold, wet creatures who forget everything in three seconds flat, think again. Scientists have found they are fast learners, carry mental maps around in their heads - and can retain memories for months.
Swimming gormlessly around in their bowls or tanks, fish have long been dismissed as dunces compared with “higher” animals such as rats, cats, dogs and primates. This view is now being challenged by findings that could re-ignite the debate over the cruelty of angling. Tests on fish in aquaria at Oxford University have shown that despite their tiny brains, they possess cognitive abilities outstripping those of some small mammals.
Dr Theresa Burt de Perera made the discovery using blind Mexican cave fish, which rely on subtle changes in pressure to detect the presence of objects around them.
In experiments, Dr Burt de Perera found that the fish did more than merely avoid bumping into objects in their tank. They built a detailed map of their surroundings, memorising the obstacles in them within a few hours. Once stored in their brains, the fish used their “mental map” to spot changes in the obstacles around them - a feat that defeats hamsters.
In one test, involving obstacles arranged in a specific order, the fish proved capable of memorising the order and quickly spotted when Dr Burt de Perera swapped obstacles around.
According to Dr Burt de Perera, the findings show that fish are under-estimated.
“The public perception of them is that they are pea-brained numbskulls that can’t remember things for more than a few seconds. We’re now finding that they are very capable of learning and remembering, and possess a range of cognitive skills that would surprise many people.”
Laboratory tests on other fish have found that they can store memories for many months, confounding the belief that they forget everything after a few seconds.
Dr Culum Brown at the University of Edinburgh has found that Australian crimson spotted rainbowfish, which learnt to escape from a net in their tank, remembered how they did it 11 months later. This is equivalent to a human recalling a lesson learnt 40 years ago.
Dr Burt de Perera’s findings have been welcomed by fish-lovers as proof that their pets can do more than blow bubbles. “They are totally misunderstood,” said Karen Youngs, the editor of Practical Fishkeeping. “We know from our readers that fish can recognise their owners, and some will go into a sulk if someone else tries to feed them.”
Mrs Youngs added that the research may mean that fish-owners have to make their aquaria a bit more interesting for their occupants: “We know that fish such as oscars do enjoy having a table-tennis ball to bash about.”
Blue-ringed octopuses are recognized as one of the world’s most venomous marine creatures. When provoked, its blue rings appear, warning the predator of its toxicity.
Its toxins cause total paralysis of the body, however, consciousness is maintained. The bite is small, often painless, but can cause death in several minutes.
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