The post Drawing Connections first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Which is why those visiting the California coast for summer vacation might be slightly confused on who dropped the Ramen in the ocean? Why would anyone waste their 10 for $10 special in the briny blue? It’s preposterous.

Well my friends, that’s because only one of these is Ramen noodles. Can you tell which?

Just in case you need a close up…
Yes, only one is Ramen…the other, Sea Hare egg masses. You heard me right.

Now put away your flavor packets and listen up cause we are gonna have “the talk.” When one mommy sea hare loves a daddy sea hare…just kidding they are hermaphrodites so we can throw all of that basically out the window. During their breeding season, sea hares form large aggregations in which they chain together to make the cutest sea hare babies you ever saw. Being hermaphrodites, the adult hares have both lady bits and man bits too and can choose which to use depending on who is where in the love chain.

Once the deed is did, they lay long “Ramen-like” ribbons of about 80 million eggs that attach to the benthos, turn a pinkish-brown, and take about 10-12 days to hatch. Sea Hares live in the plankton for roughly 30 days till they make their way back to the ocean floor and begin to chow down and start the cycle all over again.

So there you have it, no Ramen wasted here. Keep Calm and Noodle on.

The post Only One of These is Ramen Noodles first appeared on Deep Sea News.

The shell-less gastropods of the sea are collectively known as “sea slugs”. A well-known subgroup of these mollusks, the nudibranchs, are among the most colorful and captivating creatures in the ocean. Nudibranch (noo-də-bránk) means ‘naked-gill’, referring to their external filamentous respiratory organs; one of the physical characters that distinguishes them from other sea slugs. “Nudis”, as they are affectionately called, are also a quite successful clan. Over 2000 are species are known to inhabit marine environments around the planet, from the extreme depths of the seafloor to the littoral pools of the intertidal zone.

The waters of Cabrillo National Monument host at least 25 different species of these soft bodied jewels, a few of which may be observed during a good low tide. With the right timing and a keen eye, one can pick out the small but unmistakable Hopkins’ rose nudibranch (Okenia rosacea). They are one of the more common nudibranchs found here and perhaps the least inconspicuous of all the tidepool organisms at the park. Though small–only 2-3 centimeters long–it’s hard to miss their bright pink, frilly papillae swaying in the water.

The rose nudibranch was first described in 1905 by Frank Mace McFarland, a marine biologist from Stanford University and one of the founders of Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California. McFarland, well known for his contributions to malacology (the study of mollusks), originally named the rosey-colored slug ‘Hopkinsia rosacea’ after his friend and patron of the marine lab, Timothy Hopkins.

Rose nudibranchs are carnivorous. They utilize their sensory organs, known as rhinophores, to locate their sole food source: the pink encrusting bryozoan, Integripelta bilabiata. They then extract the bryozoan’s soft tissue with specialized teeth. Like many nudibranchs, Okenia rosacea steals the toxins and calcareous spicules of their prey and place them into their feathery appendages for protection. In addition to nourishment and protective compounds, these nudibranchs garner their stunning color from their bryozoan food. The tissues of the bryozoans contain hopkinsiaxanthin, the compound responsible for the slug’’s intense pink hue; and a carotenoid that was unknown to science before its discovery in the tissues of these species.

Historically, the range of these nudis extends from Northern Baja California, Mexico up to the lower Oregon coast. But, until recently, they were rarely noted north of San Francisco. Over the last few years, however, Hopkins’ rose have been seen in surprisingly high numbers in parts of Northern California and have even been observed spawning in the coastal waters of Southern Oregon, a locality in their range that was previously only known from only one specimen. Researchers believe this shift may be due to a warm water anomaly occurring in the North Pacific in 2014 and find it indicative of warming climatic conditions in general.

Like other nudibranchs, Okenia rosacea is a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Equipped with both male and female reproductive organs, this species can mate with any other mature individual of the same species. The mated slugs will deposit their pink, ribbon-like spiral egg masses on rocks and other tide pool substrates. In the act of spawning, they deposit eggs from the outside working inward in a counterclockwise motion, thus creating a clockwise spiral. From the eggs hatch tiny planktonic larvae, which develop and eventually settle on the substrate to grow to adulthood.

The more you look into it, the more there is to learn about these bright, beautiful, and fascinating mollusks. The same can be said of just about any species. Our National Parks hold multitudes of life forms, each with myriad complexities and adaptations to discover.

The next time you are exploring the rocky intertidal of the California (or Oregon!) coast, keep an eye out for the truly splendid Hopkins’ rose.

Sources and Reference:

Bertsch H. “Life history of the intertidal Californian nudibranch Hopkinsia rosacea MacFarland, 1905”. Western Society of Malacologists, Annual Report, 1989 21:19-20.

Emerson, W. K., Morris, Robert H., Donald P. Abbott, and Eugene C. Haderlie. “Intertidal invertebrates of California” Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA. 1980 98,326

Goddard, Jeffrey H. R. Treneman, N., et.al , “Nudibranch Range Shifts Associated with the 2014 Warm Anomaly in the Northeast Pacific”, Bulletin, Southern California Academy of Sciences 115(1). 2016 :15-40

Strain H. H. “Hopkinsiaxanthin, a xanthophyll of the sea slug Hopkinsia rosacea”. Biological Bulletin97(1) 1949 :206-209.

The post That Which is Bright and Splendid first appeared on Deep Sea News.

I love me the glittery things, so naturally I was intrigued, but what really caught my attention was that this magical shiny substance wasn’t plastics-based like most glitter, but rather seaweed-based. You guys…SEAWEED-BASED GLITTER?!?!?!

I had to know more…

In an effort to lower their environmental impact, the eco-conscious company LUSH cosmetics switched out the normal plastic glitter with a mixture of natural mica (what makes it shiny) and agar (a seaweed-based derivative that keeps it together). This product is biodegradable and doesn’t contribute to the ongoing proliferation of micro plastics in our oceans. See more about the process here. I can’t seem to find the seaweed-glitter anywhere else, but props to LUSH for pushing the cosmetic industry in a positive way.

Note: This is not a product endorsement (unless LUSH cosmetics wants to support online ocean science communication ;)

The post You Had Me at Seaweed-based Glitter first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Last year, DSN compatriot and Captain of the rag-tag crew over at Southern Fried Science, dropped a science outreach bomb. Dr. A.D. Thaler struck some ecological/technological brilliance in the form of the Scanning the Sea project. In a word, I was inspired and wanted to do my part in pushing this magical ocean outreach toolbox forward and to the masses. Over the past year, and with Andrew’s much appreciated mentorship, my team and I have been working diligently to compile the next piece in the 3D puzzle.

I am stoked to unveil the Rocky Intertidal segment to the #ScanningtheSea library in the form of “3D Cabrillo.” Working at a National Park revealed the perfect opportunity to preserve the resources in this way and make them available for the public.

3D Cabrillo is a multifaceted educational resource and experience available to educators both near and far. In local collaboration with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the La Jolla Library, we utilized the #ScanningtheSea methodology to create biomodels of many of the prominent organisms found in our Rocky Intertidal Zone. Free downloadable versions of these models are available to the public on the park’s website at the 3D Cabrillo Biomodel Library. These models can be produced on any 3D printer. Our hope is that this will increase accessibility of ocean resources throughout our community and beyond.

In conjunction with the biomodel library, we developed an interactive Student Resource Manual. This takes students through a step-by-step guide on how to create and render 3D models. The 3D Cabrillo Student Resource Manual was specifically developed to connect students to the ocean ecosystems, while simultaneously teaching 3D printing techniques. We look forward to implementing this program with local schools during their upcoming Spring semester and putting their work on display for thousands of visitors to see and learn from.

Using the new tools available to us, we seek to reach the public in different and exciting ways. Our goal is that this initiative will highlight the public’s important role in awareness and stewardship of our ocean resources. By connecting nature and technology, we look to foster excitement in the next generation of environmental stewards.

A special thanks to Andrew D. Thaler for inspiring this project and his ongoing commitment to ocean science education. Onward Captain.

The post Rocky Intertidal v.2.0 first appeared on Deep Sea News.

I published my first book.

It’s a children’s sticker book all about the intertidal squishies that I love so much! Each page has a description of one of 12 critters and explorers of all ages can commemorate finding each one with a fabulous sticker. With the help of some amazing Park Service Volunteers, we are excited to share our love and passion for the Rocky Intertidal Zone with the masses.

You’ll have to come visit to get one. See you soon and happy tidepooling!

The post Tentacles, Tube Feet, and Other Sticky Things. first appeared on Deep Sea News.

For fiddler crab males, size is everything.  Well over 60 different species of fiddler crabs, genus Uca, exist across the globe.  You are probably familiar with the crabs.  The males have one ridiculously large claw.  You might think I’m being unfair to fiddler crabs, but the claw of male fiddler crabs is one of the most exaggerated, sexually-selected structures of animals.  That ginormous claw can exceed 1/3 of total body size in large males.  For perspective, that is the equivalent of a 200-pound human male having a hand that weighs 66 pounds.  The average weight of human male hand is 1.25 pounds.  So yeah I think ridiculously large is an apt description.

So why gargantuan claws?  To attract the ladies of course.   Male fiddler crab wave their claws about, held high above their head to attract females into breeding burrows. Each species as unique claw wave.  Uca longisignalis, the fiddler crabs right aside my window here at the marine lab in southern Louisiana, stands outs because of numerous small jerks, sometimes reaching more than 30, that occur before the raising of the claw.  Uca musica, a fiddler crab from the tropical Pacific, conducts a prominent circular motion with its claw during a display. In my Louisiana fiddler crab, Uca longisignalis, the circular motion is weak at best, clearly needing some practice.

Why are the claws so important to the fiddler crab ladies?  In part males with larger claws are more likely to win contests, much more a ritual than an actual fight.  To the winner goes the spoils.  In this case the spoils are prime burrows in the mud flat, important both as bunkers during hide tides and nurseries.  Wandering pregnant females actually choose males partly on the basis of the respectability of the burrow.   Of course bigger claws are quite frankly just more visible to females. Interestingly, despite the large claw primarily being just for show, the equivalent biological bling, the claws are still functional and quite capable of generating enough Newtons of force to successfully cut the author’s index finger.

In a great 1996 study by Jennions and Blackwell, males of Uca annulipes were removed from their burrows and released back into the colony.  The two researchers then monitored the fighting success between the residents of the burrows and the released intruders.  Intruders with relatively large claws for their body size won more fights.  However, not just claw size that mattered.  Released intruders initiated encounters more frequently with burrow resident males smaller than themselves.   When the intruder was larger than the residents, the intruder was more likely to win.  The bigger the loser or winner in any fight the longer the battle goes.  Another study by Blackwell and Passmore, found females not only are particular for larger claws but larger males as well.  At the beginning of a mating period, females selectively go for the larger males in the population.  Toward the end of the mating period, when females feel the pressure of mating in time to release young to coincide with the following nocturnal spring tide, they become a little less choosy for big males.

The ladies love big claws and big males.

The post My What A Big Claw You Have! All the Better to Love You With. first appeared on Deep Sea News.

This week the best part of the 90s has returned in full force with the Niantic’s release of Pokémon Go. You guys, this is like that thing when they re-released Oregon Trail for mobile devices…but better.

For those not in the know, Pokémon Go basically blurs the lines between the real world and the virtual world by allowing “Pokétrainers” to catch em’ all as they go through their everyday lives. Quite effectively getting the nerds out into nature to exercise. Sneaky sneaky.

Reports have poured in regarding the rather interesting places people have found themselves looking for wild Pokémon. From strip clubs to delivery rooms, you never know where a Squirtle may be hiding. Perhaps even next to a dead body. 

With that said, I think we can all agree, there are good places to look for Pokémon and very bad, bad places to look for Pokémon. We here at Deep Sea News believe it is our sacred duty to keep the public well informed of all things ocean-faring and would like to point out some of the places that perhaps you shouldn’t go looking for your next Seel or Horsea. You’re welcome.

1. Mariana Trench 

Nearly 7 miles down (36,070 feet), the Mariana Trench clocks in as the deepest point in the world’s oceans. Not only would you not be able to see anything, but the pressures 1,000x that of sea level would crush you and your hopes of catching all the Seadra lurking around in the ocean’s depths. Of course, if you are besties with James Cameron…you might have a chance.

2. Rocky Intertidal Zone

Unlike most of the sea stars on the West Coast of the United States, Starmie’s are immune to Sea Star Wasting Disease so you might actually by lucky enough to find one. However, you must remember that they occupy one of the most extreme ecosystems in the world, the Rocky Intertidal Zone. Thus, in order to be the very best like no one ever was, you must first combat some potentially massive wave action.

3. Hydrothermal Vents

Ironically, there are probably a crap ton of Pokémon at hydrothermal vents and most likely the rarest and most exotic species of all. These vents are teaming with biological diversity uniquely adapted to this most extreme environment comprised of high temperatures and seemingly toxic water. They are adapted…you aren’t.

4. Cook Inlet (Anchorage, Alaska)

Boasting some of the most dramatic tidal exchanges in the United States, this area off the coast of Anchorage, Alaska is no place for Pokétrainers. Krabby and the rest of the water Pokémon won’t get stuck in the quicksand-like glacial silt, but you might. Combine that with a 12.2 m tidal shift and Team Rocket trying to steal your Pokémon will be the least of your worries.   

5. Dead Zone (Gulf of Mexico)

Hypoxic Areas, or Dead Zones, occur when the level of dissolved oxygen in the water column is so low that the area can no longer support aerobic life (note: of which I assume for the sake of this post Pokémon to be). The United States claims domain over one of the second largest hypoxic zones world wide, the Mississippi River mouth in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. This is due, in major part, to large agricultural nutrient run-off. Do not let the photoshopped Squirtle in this picture fool you. There are no Pokémon here. They are all dead.

6. Polar Region

Let’s be real. It’s cold. There is ice everywhere. You don’t have an ice breaker. Though with climate change the way it’s going, catching that Seel might just be a waiting game.  

7. Mediterranean Sea

“The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that 650,000,000 tons of sewage, 129,000 tons of mineral oil, 60,000 tons of mercury, 3,800 tons of lead and 36,000 tons of phosphates are dumped into the Mediterranean each year.” Probability has it that the Mediterranean Sea is the world’s most polluted ocean, meaning that there are most likely low levels of Pokémon and high levels of “you don’t want to swim there”.

The post The Worst Ocean Environments to “Catch Em’ All” first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Sub-Neritic Gentrification

For November we will be doing some deep thinking about deep-sea mollusks in an attempt to understand the complex history and adaptations of these animals living in the depths of our oceans. Biodiversity of today’s marine snails can be traced to several different ecological and environmental phenomena, but in the Deep-Water Helmet Shell Galeodea keyteri, it is likely a case of adaptive radiation exploring new realms. The Helmet Shells (Cassidae) are a speciose group of large, shallow-water tropical and temperate marine snails that range among the intertidal coral rubble and sand flats to offshore muds, but as this evolutionarily successful group of gastropods continued to diversity into different niches, several species moved into deep-water to establish new ways of living. At these depths staying alive presents serious challenges with an extremely cold, low oxygen, nutrient-poor, and high-pressure environment, so some deep-water species trended to smaller, slow-growing physiologies like as a way to successfully conserve energy and resources. Since the dark depths lack sunlight needed for algae to grow, most species of deep-sea mollusks are either scavengers or predators, with little resources for vegetarians to survive. Like all Helmet Shells, Galeodea keyteri is a carnivore, specializing on starfish, brittle stars, and urchins. Catching their slow-moving prey with a muscular foot, glands in the proboscis secrete a fluid rich in acids that dissolve the echinoderm’s calcium-carbonate skeletons, while a radula drills into the weakened parts of the body to extract nutrients from their internal organs. A tough environment requires innovative strategies and hardy adaptations for a species to survive. Ain’t natural selection grand?

Molluscan Methuselah

While some species of deepwater mollusks are derived from shallow-water taxa that extended into and adapted within deep ocean ecosystems, other taxa of marine mollusks are taxonomic geezers with a much longer history. The Slit Snails (Pleuorotomariidae) are perhaps the oldest still-living lineage of marine snails, extending back in the fossil record more than 500 million years. Named because of its long slit at the aperture allowing for extension of their respiratory siphon, they were abundant in the shallow reefs throughout the world. Between the Late Cretaceous (ca. 90 million years ago) and the middle Eocene (ca. 40 million years ago) is when most modern lineages of shallow-water reef-living gastropods originated and diversified, and also the time when slit shells seem to disappear from that same fossil record. Among paleontologists and malacologists, the general hypothesis is that these modern taxa somehow out-competed the slit shells for food, or perhaps were more adapted to changing marine climates or fluctuating sea levels of the time, forcing the slit shells into progressively deeper and deeper water. This type of ecological displacement and bathymetric submergence has been seen in many other deep-sea groups, including corals, crinoids, brachiopods, and fishes. Today, slit shells are found in depths exceeding 3,000 meters, living the hi-life eating sponges in a cold, dark, lonely, nutrient-poor world.

Die-Hardest

As far as the origins of deep-sea gastropods go, we’ve visited two scenarios: new lineages of shallow-water snails radiating into deeper waters, and those formerly shallow-water taxa that have been out-competed in the shallows and forced into deeper, less productive habitats. But there’s a third group of deep-water snails that are so tough, so extreme that they can live in shallow and deep water. Here is the Checkered Hairsnail (Trichotropis cancellaria; Capulidae), the James Bond, the Bruce Willis, and the Rock all coiled up into one extreme snail that ranges from the intertidal zone to depths of nearly 2,000 ft. (600m). Is it true grit or it’s hard-boiled soul that make it impervious to the relentless cold, pressure, and darkness of the deep sea? Their broad range is more likely the result of two things: (1) a wide and variable physiology that can tolerate the extremes of shallow to deep; and (2) its broad diet that it can obtain at any depth. You see, the Checkered Hairsnail is a suspension-feeder, meaning it feeds on the decomposing bits of animal debris suspended in the water, which it traps by sticky mucous, and that kind of detritus is found in all habitats. However, it’s a sneaky critter. When the floating slurry of decomposition becomes scarce, they will parasitize tube worms by inserting their proboscis down the mouth of the worm and pumping out the contents of the worm’s stomach. Evolution: the weirder the better.

Slo-Mo Snail
Shallow-water gastropods live the good life. Warm water, a sunny sea rich in oxygen, and plenty of food provides them the metabolism to live fast, grow big, and die young, relatively speaking, of course. The flipside in the deep sea is a life of constant near-freezing cold, little available food, and water suffocatingly sparse in oxygen. This shell of the Catalina Turrid (Antiplanes catalinae, Pseudomelatomidae) who lives at depths of up to 4800 ft (1460 m), tells its story of life in this harsh realm. Growth lines, which indicate the increase and cessation of shell development, are seen as wide bands often far apart in curving spire of fast-growing shallow-water shells. In this species, the growth lines are close and compact, showing very slow growth and likely a long life. Their low metabolism provides little extra energy for their minimal growth and reproduction, so these snails probably take the developmental route of the tortoise over the hare. This shell tells another and more concerning story. Once only collected during deep-ocean trawls by research vessels, this species was prized by collectors as a rarity and an oddity. With commercial fisheries abandoning over-exploited fishing grounds along the shallower coasts, fishing has gone into the deep ocean to tap into those fragile resources. This specimen was taken as unintentional bycatch by a deep-water shrimp trawler, and though it wasn’t the target of the fisheries, the sparse populations of these slow-growing snails cannot sustain even the modest impact by commercial fisheries

Post-Docs Please Enquire

The curse of working with deep-sea gastropods is how few specimens are in museum collections, and what very little is known about them. That too is the siren’s call of opportunity in deep-sea malacological research. The Japanese Pagoda Shell (Columbarium pagoda, Turridae) has been known to science for close to 200 years, based on relatively few well-documented specimens in museums and private collections scattered throughout the world, yet virtually nothing is known about their ecology. Diet, trophic niche, age, growth rates, reproduction, population structure, predators, parasites, physiology, ecological associations, movements – none of that has been adequately documented. If all mysteries in the ocean were solved, there would be no jobs for future under-paid post-docs or over-worked assistant professors. Those with grant funding, a modicum of workaholism, and access to deep-sea technology could pioneer new directions into a richer ecological understanding of the deep ocean’s marine mollusks. That siren’s call can just as easily dash unfeasible projects on the rocks of financial destitution and lead to deep regret of one’s research program and entrée into a life of constant self-medication and personal validation. These mysteries await the bold, but favor the wise.

The post Malacology Monthly: Going Deep first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Superheroes?  Who gives a heck.  I was too busy reading marine biology text books than to waste my time with the imaginary – and usually blatantly contradictory – special powers of comic book superheroes.  In the real world, becoming invisible is an easy task for an octopus:
Maybe you are caught unaware.  No problem, just blend into whatever looks good, like a strand of red algae:
Maybe your cloak of invisibility is not enough to hide from a predator, what to do?  Get really angry, very large, and look tough enough to scare them off. Bluffing is 9/10 of survival (something I learned in that Turkish prison):
Becoming invisible (or looking really pissed off) requires three simple things: (1) you will need an excellent sense of vision to relay your local environment to your brain to modify your (2) layers of stacked pigment cells called melanocytes to expand or contract, varying the color & shading of your body to re-create the color of your surroundings, and (3) relaying the physical aspect of your environment to tiny muscle fibers that instantly change to texture of your skin to mimic your substrate. Boom, gone (but still in plain sight).
 One layer of specialized cells, iridiophores, glam up the octopus with iridescent blues & greens.  These aren’t pigments, but cells that contain specialized components which take in ambient light and refract only the blue spectrum.  What lame-ass superhero can even bend light like that?  None. Moreover, this little Blue-Ringed Octopus has some nasty venom, so the pulsing blue rings warn a potential predators, but may also be irresistable to little kids poking around in tide pools.  Oops.

Having the superpower to flash colors & textures and immediately change shape aren’t just for fighting super-villains, but in this fast-paced world of evolution, cephalopods have come up with some excellent ways of just staying alive by a quick color change and expansion of muscles. Our friend the Mimic Octopus uses what’s called a ‘startle behavior’ in an attempt to scare off a potential predator (in this case, the underwater cinematographer):
The Mimic Octopus brings up its game by using the ability to quickly change into other sea animals. Here it looks like the feathery striped fronds of the vemomous Lionfish’s fins, and the black & white banding pattern of a highly-venomous sea snake, the Banded Sea Krait:

Octopus, squid, and cuttlefish all share highly muscularized tentacles, basically specially modified divisions of their boneless foot.  Octopus have suckers with an impressive ability to grip, and an amazing level of fine dexterity to solve problems like this:
Squid tentacles may have a combination of suckers alone, or suckers with piercing hooks or sharp saw-toothed edges to grip and maim their prey, as seen in these Humboldt squid: Octopus move with jets of water squirted through their siphon, and the intensity and direction of the blasts accelerates and steers the animal as smoothly as a hoverboard.
Squid aren’t that different from a personal spacecraft in those sci-fi comics, and these have a certain similarity to George Jetson‘s space car (but without George). With their siphon blasting jets of water and the fins along the side of the head undulating in waves that steer them, they can hover in place and instantaneously dart in any direction, and use their tentacles for streamlining, signaling, or attacking:
Now take this these concepts of color change, tentacles, and a personal hover-suit, and turn your little cephalopod body into some crazy disco predator. Using a neural network that coordinates the melanocytes and iridiophores into pulsating waves of light visually confuse – or possible mesmerize – prey enough to give you a split second to shoot your incredibly elastic predatory tentacles right in their face and pull them into your sharp killer beak. This is why the marine world is better than any comic book.
Ok, so maybe you want to be seen.  You’re a hot, sexy, ripe squid with gametes a-plenty and it’s the season for love.  But in the deep, dark ocean it’s hard to find the right mate. No problem, some squid have specialized bioluminescent cells in your skin where a tiny internal chemical reaction emits light energy in little glowing spots.  Your species may have a special pattern that identifies the right mates for you.  Not interested in love?  Those same light spots may attract prey that you can feast on until the moment is right for that special copulatory embrace:

So it’s been a while since the squid love-fest, and now your life is taken up with caring for the kids.  Sure, most squid just mate then dump a fertilized egg capsule on the ocean bottom and let those li’l squidlets hatch on their own, but not with Gontaus.  She may not be the world’s best mom, but unlike other squid, she carries her egg mass around to protect her little brood until the time they hatch.  When they do, she pulsates the eggs gently kicking them out into the big dark world below, like shaking sand off a beach blanket.  Once they are out, they are on their own and she has nothing more to do with them: Again, not the greatest mom, but better than most:

Next up, cephalopods have the highest cute factor of any invertebrate, more than flatworms, more than gastropods, and even more than those fancy-pants Peacock Spiders. I enter into evidence this contest between two little squid tucking themselves in for the night.  Looking like they were designed by a Japanese toymaker, the Pyjama Squid (Sepioloidea lineolata) and the Tropical Bobtail Squid (Sepiadarium kochi) will burow into your hearts:
Don’t need any fancy bed because the sea floor is soft enough? Well then dig right in with a few blasts of water.  No turn-down service required:

Most of all cephalopods just want to be left alone.  When color changing, jetting away, burrowing into the sand, or impersonating more dangerous sea creature doesn’t work, there’s always just losing your shit and kicking ass:

The post Cephalopods: Masters of W.T.F? – Enough GIFs to Kill a Kraken first appeared on Deep Sea News.