Flying Octopus

Monday needs some joviality! What would you do if you saw a giant octopus flying overhead?



I just hope it was all recovered and none ended up in the sea!

What Google Says

In an interesting Navel Gazing and Social experiment Rick MacPherson of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice & Sunsets came up with a meme finding a number of search terms (other than the blog title) that result in a #1 google ranking for the blog. Somewhat predictably MBSLS came up # 1 on such searches as “coral reefs, conservation, queer” and "moray, rick". Somehow it also came up as the number one place to turn for “zelnio, conservation, blog, coral, drunk”.

I know Kevin and I long ago evolved into more or less responsible drinkers, but this is devastating news. Even though he is a friend, that's some important territory we need to win back from Rick. Kevin, we gotta do more drunk blogging about inverts and conservation! ;-)

Ok, while the scallop beer and lobster vodka chill, I'll respond to Rick's meme tag. It's a great excuse to procrastinate doing mindless GIS exercises.

First search is the obvious one:

1. "zelnio heupel" or is that "heupel zelnio" #1 either way (yes, with google sometimes word order does matter)


2. "chaetognath phylogeny" beat out some heavy hitters like the Tree of Life, Springerlink, and Oxford Journals.


3. "barnacle evolution" scored another top spot with Kevins awesome tribute to Alan J. Southward and summary of a great paper on Barnacle Evolution


4. "whale lice conservation" gets a nod as number one for the Quixotic mission to get Right Whale Lice listed as an endangered species


5. the "Nobel Jelly" surprised me with a number 1 spot as well

But then things get a bit weird:

6. "sea squirt porn" a search phrase that also consistently shows up in our logs...weird! There must be a lot of lonely sea squirts out there tapping into the lab computers, or desperate tunicate researchers, or.. well I really don't want to know if it's not the one of the first two.


7. "ostracod penis" got a top result, but not "ostracode penis" which only got a #2 result.


8. "squirt en masse" was a number one result that I really don't even think I want to know about


9. "sperm races" Beg pardon?! What? Oh, but that reminds me I need to set up the video to record those urchins, last time it was a photo finish

Looking through our logs some time ago I noticed "porn" was one of the top words that led people from Google to us so on a whim...I added "porn" to the end of a number of species we talk about and found out TO95% owns:
"whale lice porn" and "snail porn" with top ten results for "chaetognath porn", "mollusc porn", "cephalopod porn" and "arthropod porn". Interestingly Pharyngula beat us out on all of those except "arthropod porn" where Blackwell Synergy stomped our telsons.

So to be a meme it has to be self replicating...so if they would like to participate, I'm asking The Brine Queen, Bobbie and Jerry, Jason and Peter to gaze into their navels through Google and see what floats to the top.

Invert Inspired

Set your Inner Squid Free

A new invertebrate interactive game, I guess it's a game, sorta like Tamagotchi are a game, or are they?


Anyway, better than any tamawhatever, now you can design your own squid and set them free into the waters around New Zealand to hunt toothfish and grow. Check back in on them every once in a while and see how they grow. Its a wonderful addition to Te Papa Colossal Squid pages.

Happy Cephalopodmas

To all our friends, and friends of inverts everywhere, we'd like to wish you a Merry Cephalopodmass and Happy Holothuridays!

Invert Playground

The whiteboard from the undergrad lounge in the marine science building at UCONN Avery Point....

Spider Substance Abuse

Watch Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Spider Webs in Funny Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Molluscan Zodiac

A new site has sprung up... The Molluscan Zodiac run by Keith Bradnam.

Hmmmm... looking at his definitions of the cast of characters I see potential trouble here...

From his description of the character traits of the Snail:

Slow in both body and mind; snails are loyal yet stupid, giving yet selfish. Snails do not get on with barnacles, limpets, clams, or squids, and at best, only ever tolerate slugs.

For a sample horoscope, how about the Limpet for this week...

The Limpet
March 10th - May 1st

Big developments will occur in the bedroom this week. Make sure your sheets are clean. Take a second look at what you are wearing. Your friends think that it is time that you burn your wardrobe. Maybe they are right?

Hmmm. so acordin to this zodiak I'm a Barnacle... hmmmm... yeah, not going to touch that one.

So what's Your sign?

Insect Nation

Cephalopod of Love

Ceph Love!

(hat tip to wwwEPARKsk via Rustbeard)

Parasites Unleashed

Entoconcha is a small snail that parasitizes sea cucumbers. When the snail is ready to release its eggs, it makes the sea cucumber spit out its own guts.

Maybe it wasn't a great idea for Johann and me to play our first game of Parasites Unleashed as Tammy was fixing dinner.

"Cool! They leave the host through their snot!" (Dicrocoelium)

Of course, it didn't help that the game was interrupted by dinner, though the conversation about parasites wasn't.

"Mommy, did you know that there's a mussel that waves a fish-shaped piece of its mantle to lure hungry fish in and then spits its larvae in their faces?!" (Lampsilis ventricosa)

"The poor fish!"

But even with my poor timing, Zygote Games latest offering was a smash hit. The game is well paced and complex enough to hold interest, yet easy enough for an eight-year-old to grasp right away. The artwork of Fred Zinn is witty and fun.

"Wahooo! I'm asexual!! I don't have to play the mate card!"

"You're what!?"

Our introductory game lasted almost 30 minutes, but we were taking our time and reading the science tidbits on each card aloud as we played them. In part, we read them to enjoy the effect it had on Tammy in the kitchen. She said, "Eeeewww!" and "Grooooosss!" at all the right things, of course.

And Miriam, yes, you can be the Rhizocephalan - Sacculina sp. Or maybe you might prefer the colorful Leucochloridium paradoxum or Johann's favorite, the Entoconcha, a parasitic mollusc which parasitizes sea cucumbers. It forces its sea cucumber host to spit up its guts, releasing the snail's eggs. Johann's reaction?

"Eeeewww! How cool!!"

Yeah, I think this game has a permanent place in our house!

Go, Go, Gastropod

Outreach

I'm working on an invert outreach project right now involving drawings, and you know I really want to slip in a card doen in the style of MonstersByMail.com's talented artist Len.

Maybe a Squid with attitude:


Or a fearsome worm:

Sunday Funny - Clam Slut

Heading out to sea next week for SHRMP cruise to Stellwagen Bank (we'll also be conducting an archeological survey for wrecks and artifacts such as the Portland and the Josephine Marie). Don't know how much posting I will be able to get done (preposting or live) but thought I would at least get up a Sunday Funny!

Thanks to a comment by Alex (Who is decidedly NOT dead, and looking into Science Communication Grad Programs) we present:


See the whole comic at PartiallyClips *snicker*.