Cross posted to Daily Kos.

Throughout the course of human evolution there have been several species belonging to the genus Homo, including neanderthalensis, erectus, habilis, and floresiensis. Today only two remain: Homo sapiens  and Homo oceanus. We, of course, belong to the former species. Unlike us, H. oceanus are strictly marine-dwelling primates.

Cross posted at Daily Kos.

The Slipper Limpet (Crepidula fornicata) is an odd type of snail that is extremely common on the Atlantic coast. Unlike most snails, this animal lacks the typical spiral shape of its shell and is instead more conical with only the slightest hint of a shell twist.  To start off, I'll help get your mind out of the gutter (don't worry, we'll be diving right back in below the fold) and explain that the species name fornicata is Latin for "vaulted", which describes the convex shell shape quite nicely, and the name was given by none other than Carl von Linne (aka Linnaeus) himself.

To the ancient Romans, Marc Antony was an invincible leader who no mortal could defeat in battle.  When his navy was beaten at the Battle of Actium his citizens had to invent a non-human explanation for his loss. They found the perfect foil in a strange fish that sticks to other animals, or boats, and hitches a ride.

This fish is called the Remora, or Sharksucker, and although most of you have probably not seen one in person, many will recognize it as the strange little fish that attaches itself to sharks, whales or sea turtles in those PBS or Discovery Channel nature programs.

Remoras are found in tropical seas throughout the world. They have a large suction cup, called a "sucking plate", on top of their heads.  They use this amazing structure to attach to larger sea life.

Cross posted to Daily Kos.

Sitting in a boat on a still day, the ocean seems gentle, calm and most of all silent.  Even the song of a humpback whale, a sound that when produced by an individual off the coast of Newfoundland can be heard by another a couple of thousand miles away in Bermuda, goes unnoticed above the waves.  And yes, most marine animals, be they jellyfish, clams or sharks, make no sounds at all.

But there are some fish whose vocal abilities, when heard underwater, rival many songbirds, if not in tune at least in volume.  Fish that produce sound are called "soniferous", and they encompass a surprisingly large minority of species. In fact there is one family of fish that are collectively known as "Drums", named for the pounding noise they make to attract mates or establish territories.

Cross posted at Daily Kos.

This diary will be fairly simple.  I'm not going into a whole lot of details about snail anatomy, but just the basic differences between left and right-handed shells.

Snails, or univalves, comprise the largest group of mollusks.  Nearly all are characterized by a hard shell, made primarily out of calcium carbonate, which rotates around a central columella.

The chirality, whether the shell is right-handed or left-handed, varies from species to species, although some types can twist either way.  (This however causes problems with reproduction since the reproductive organs are opposite as well.)

A basic shell structure is shown below:

Jumbo Squid Dissection: Part II

Reposted from Biomes Blog

As I mentioned in my first squid dissection entry, I missed the beginning of my staff's work on this incredible animal, so this entry should really be first.  Now that I have all the photos together, here are the early stages of the project. 

This animal isn't a Giant Squid (which would be in the genus Architeuthis).  It's known as Ommastrephes bartramii, the Red Flying Squid, and is a member of the squid genus collectively known as "Jumbo Squid".  Although it is normally found in very deep water, this animal sometimes rises to the surface to hunt and gets its name from its habit of leaping out of the water and sailing through the air in order to escape from predators.