Wild Hoppers!

One of the oddest treehoppers, Sphongophorus (Cladonota) ballista, from Panama, originally uploaded by artour_a.

Cruising through a few of the recent images uploaded by Artour_a at Flickr and I ran into this beautiful treehopper. I remember some real oddities when I was in Honduras, but this one is a real winner!

Artour_a has quite a few tropical tree hopper images on his site in a great set called...hmmm. what was it called? Oh, yes - Treehoppers:

Cat in a Bathysphere

I was down at our local toy store (the totally awesome Mystical Toys) when I spotted an interesting auio CD aimed at kids: The Hipwaders – Educated Kid. The track list includes "Educated Kid", "Dewey Decimal System" and the two that made me buy it on an impulse (a big deal considering student finances!) – "Song of the Paleo Pirates" and "Cat in a Bathysphere"

Great lyrics and fun tunes. Here is the early animation video for "Cat in a Bathysphere" (which features an octopus squid in the animation!)

Measure Twice

Measure twice..., originally uploaded by Articulate Matter.

Some great squid sculptures from Articulate Matter at Flickr.
Here is another favorite among many...

Yoga, originally uploaded by Articulate Matter.

Krill, It whats for dinner

At least for many larger predator species in Antarctica. I don't know maybe a half a plateful of these with some pasta? Maybe the folks on board the R/V Gould (currently headed to the new research season in Antarctica) have a recipe?

Of course the question is...how many species (and what species) are in the picture, and which one tastes best?

Rare sighting in the Azores!

Portuguese fisheries biologists have made a rare sighting of the endangered amphipod, the Right Whale Lice.

Cyamus ovalis Photo: Vicky Rowntree, University of Utah

The lice, and their host, were spotted off the coast of the Azores according to the report from the New England Aquarium's Jeff Ives and Aquarium whale researcher Philip Hamilton. Phillip has the complete story along with pictures and map of the sighting and positive ID of the host (last seen in Gulf of Maine just a few months ago!). For some reason though they seem to focus on the host organism, rather than the awesome whale lice.

Need New Quotes

You might notice I've had some quotes up there under the ole banner for quite some time. Me thinks it's time for some new ones. Although I really like the Huxley quote, that might stay. Anyone have any favorite spineless quotations? Enter them into the comments!

Carnival of the Blue #20

The 20th edition of the Carnival of the Blue is up at Biomes Blog for all your oceanic oratories. Go there and say hi to Eunice, the 3 foot bristle worm!

There May Be Only One Disadvantage to Being Invertebrate

At least if you are a pirate...



A good flag is important! That is why I recommend this one I made for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Hat tip Michael Barton, FCD.

Flight of the Monarchs

From National Geographic's Youtube Channel:

I lived in Monterey, CA and the Monarchs would make a stopover in the area. It was quite amazing to see them cover the trees in Pacific Grove! Their larvae ate the milkweed of that grew wild all over the hills of California.

Happy Invert New Year!

Cephalopod shibori, originally uploaded by eclectic echoes.

May your new year be invert-tastic!