Spawning PLATE FISH (Bothus lunatus) ©MarineLifeBlog
Shot in Bonaire, off Buddy’s Reef
The Plate fish, Bothus lunatus, is a flounder of the genus Bothus, from warmer parts of the Atlantic, including the Caribbean.
Peacock flounder are diurnal, active during the day. They rest on the sandy bottom, waiting in ambush for their prey. When swimming, these fish glide just above the bottom using wavy movements. Peacock flounder can change colors rapidly to blend in with their background. At night, the peacock flounder blends in with its surroundings and rests.
Females lay 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 eggs each year. Flounders are pelagic spawners, which mean they get together in groups in areas where the fertilized eggs will be taken by the currents. The eggs float in the open ocean near the surface. The fertilized eggs float, but as the young develop, the eggs sink. Eggs hatch after 15 days and for the next 4 to 6 months, the larvae or the newly hatched fish float free in the pelagic or open ocean environment. During this time the eye on the right side of the body begins to move to the left side until both eyes settle on the left side.
Fact Source: http://www.allfishingbuy.com/Fish-Species/Peacock-Flounder.htm
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Male Yellowhead Jawfish brooding eggs
Rainbow Mantis Shrimp guarding eggs
Fact Soucre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothus_lunatus
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Blue Horseshoe-Shaped TREEHOPPER (Sphongophorus ballista) ©artour_a
Sphongophorus ballista - a very tiny treehopper which mimics a dry leaf - Insecto pequeñito que se aparece a una hoja muerta; Parque Nacional Santa Fé, Veraguas, Panamá
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JEWELED SQUID (Histioteuthis bonellii) - ©JLambus
The jewelled squid, Histioteuthis bonellii, swims above the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at depths from 500m to 2,000m.
Fact Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/24316.php?from=165731
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(via squidshark)
WHITE BELLIED CAIQUE (Pionites leucogaster) ©Roundtoad
Endemic in the Amazon Basin in South America. They generally prefer forested areas and subsist on fruit and seeds. Caiques (kī-EEK) are generally canopy dwellers, spending most of their time in the tops of trees, foraging and playing. They are highly vocal and typically seen in pairs or small groups.
The two species of Caique also exhibit a unique behavior known as ‘surfing’, where the bird will vigorously rub its face, wings and chest against a soft item (e.g. carpets, towels, cushions, crumpled paper, curtains or human hair) while using its beak to pull itself along. This behavior is thought to be a cleaning or bathing motion and occurs regardless of age or sex. In the wild, Caiques use wet leaves instead of carpets or towels.
They have a peculiar call which has been compared to a smoke alarm, used for warning and for making contact with flock members who are out of visual range. This call is high, piercing, and loud enough to alert flock members across the jungle (or a neighboring apartment.) They are extremely active, prefer lots of physical interaction and playtime, and are prolific chewers.
They have also been nicknamed in aviculture as “the dancing parrot” for their habit of hopping and “dancing”, especially when encouraged by rhythmic clapping.
Caique wing feathers produce a distinctive whirring sound in flight.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caique
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DESJARDINS SAILFIN TANG (Zebrasoma desjardinii) ©Amy Stackhouse
Other Common Names
Indian Ocean Sailfin Tang, Desjardin’s Sailfin Tang, Red Sea Sailfin Tang
Range
Maldives, Red Sea, Sri Lanka
Description
Members of the Zebrasoma family are considered true ‘Tangs’. They are excellent for consuming filamentous algae and have reportedly even occasionally consume bubble algae (valonia).
Diet
Will consume filamentous algae as well as frozen mysis shrimp and other meaty foods. It is recommended to regularly feed Nori as a marine algae suppliment. If underfed it may pick at small polyped stony corals.
Fact Source
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/productdetail.asp?did=1&cid=287&pid=881
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OREGON COUGAR ALERT!
Oregon House Bill 2337 will reinstate sport hound hunting and hound-chasing of cougars on a county-by-county basis. Twice Oregon voters said NO to sport hounding of cougars. The governor and your legislators need to hear you say NO AGAIN..right now! Since things can change daily, please track the bill first here.Here’s How You Can Help
- Immediately contact Senate Committee members and your Senator and ask them to oppose HB 2337, which would repeal Oregon’s prohibition against hounding cougars (contact information). You can learn who your Senator is here or by calling (800) 332-2313. If your senator happens to be a committee member, please be sure to let him or her know you are their constituent—this is extremely important. NOTE: You do not need to be an Oregon resident to write or call.
- Call Governor Kitzhaber at (503) 378-3111 and ask him to veto HB 2337. Our governor has been supportive of cougar protections in the past and he has the ultimate power to protect them again right now.
- Join the Predator Defense “Cougar Alert List” and receive alerts directly in your inbox. Email brooks@predatordefense.org with ‘Cougar List’ in the subject line.
Photo by: digitalART2
Bull AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Loxodonta africana) ©njwight
Males elephants are less communal, traveling sometimes among other males and at other times from family to family in search of mates. About once a year males enter a state of sexual excitement called musth, and they may fight one another for rights to a female.
Elephant bulls in musth are famously uncontrollable, and take on violent, insane characteristics—even attacking their caretakers in captivity—and during this time glands on their cheeks, called the temporal glands, swell and emit a sticky liquid which can often be seen running down their faces. While in musth they send out low-frequency calls to other females, and if one responds in the distance they will follow her.
Amazingly, many elephant calls are too low (15 hertz) for human hearing ability (20 hertz). These infrasonic sounds are capable of traveling long distances, and most occur in the early morning or evening hours, when ground air is cool enough to carry the frequency without interference.
At these times a single call can be heard for 110 square miles. With such broadcast methods at their disposal elephants are always in touch with one another. Always moving on a whim.
And sometimes a little fickle.
Read more:
http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/african-elephant.html#ixzz1MwSmnsN1
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Eye Contact
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And for the anonymous person who asked how old I am, I’m older than the twin elephants in the photo link, and younger than the oldest elephant on record, though I’m curious what difference it makes? :)
ROSY-LIPPED BATFISH (Ogcocephalus porrectus) ©Michael Poliza
The rosy-lipped batfish is an unusual looking fish found on the Galapagos Islands. Rosy-lipped batfish are closely related to red-lipped batfish, both of which are found near Cocos Island off the coast of Costa Rica. Both fish species look and behave very similarly to one another.
Batfish are not good swimmers; they use their pectoral fins to “walk” on the ocean floor. When the batfish reaches adulthood, its dorsal fin becomes a single spine-like projection that lures prey.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-lipped_batfish
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COLLARED LORY or FIJI LORY (Vini solitarius) ©Kevin Sharpe
This is an adult collared lory, Vini solitarius, which is a small nectar-feeding parrot species that is endemic to Fiji archipelago. This bird’s plumage was so stunning that it formed the basis for an entire maritime trading network. By GrrlScientist
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Collared Lory (Vini solitarius), also known as the Fiji Lory, photographed whilst feeding on nectar from flowering eucalyptus high in the Nadarivatu Highlands at Viti Levu, Republic of Fiji. (photo: Kevin Sharpe)
(via: Punctuated Equilibrium - Guardian UK)
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Red CUBAN LAND SNAIL or PAINTED LAND SNAIL - (Polymita picta)
Their common name the “Cuban land snail” or the “painted snail”, is a species of large, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helminthoglyptidae.
The shell of this species is large, brightly colored, and has numerous color varieties.
This species is the type species of the genus Polymita.
This snail is endemic to Cuba.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymita_picta
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Cuban Land Snail or Painted Snail - yellow
GREEN-CROWNED BRILLIANT up close (Heliodoxa jacula) ©no1chrism
The Green-crowned Brilliant is a large robust hummingbird that is a resident breeder in the highlands from Costa Rica to western Ecuador.
This hummingbird inhabits wet mountain forests including edges, gaps and tall second growth. It occurs typically between 700 m and 2000 m in altitude, mainly on the Caribbean slopes.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-crowned_Brilliant
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CRESTED CAPUCHIN MONKEY (Cebus nigritus robustus)
©Doug Irving and Bruce Chambers / OC Register
The 12th Crested Capuchin Monkey zoo born in the USA was born to a hotheaded monkey named Romeo who didn’t pay much attention to the advances of a young female named Juliet who was sharing his enclosure at the Santa Ana Zoo. Not at first.But then, zookeepers started noticing the two monkeys stealing quiet moments together, chattering and grooming each other’s back hair.
The zoo was able to get the two rare monkeys on loan from the Brazilian government because of its long history of working with New World primates, including other capuchins. It’s also a member of the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Crested capuchins come from Brazil, where they live in small, isolated groups and where their forest habitat is disappearing. The World Conservation Union lists them as vulnerable, which means they face a “high risk of extinction.” The group estimates that there are fewer than 10,000 living in the wild.
Fact Source:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/baby-167674-juliet-monkey.html
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![SHORT EARED DOG (Atelocynus microtis) © Peruvian Amazon Biodiversity Project
rhamphotheca:
Photos From the Peruvian Amazon Biodiversity Project: Short-eared Dog
The few studies done on the extremely rare Short-eared Dog (photographed by a camera trap on May 4, 2008) have centered on its diet, which mostly consists of rodents and fruit. Many people don’t realize two species of wild dog roam the Amazon rain forest, the National Zoo’s Kolowski said, so these photos show people “animals that they know nothing about and may not [have] even thought existed.”
(read more: National Geo)
The short-eared dog competes for food with the Jaguar, Cougar, Ocelot, Margay and Giant Otter, and competes for territory with the Bush Dog.
Feral dogs pose a prominent threat to the population of short-eared dogs, as they facilitate the spread of diseases such as canine distemper and rabies to the wild population. Humans also contribute to the extermination of the short-eared dog via degradation of the species’ natural habitat and the destruction of tropical rainforests. Scientists still have little knowledge of its biology.
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Bush Dog - the other Amazonian wild dog species
Dhole - Asiatic Wild Dog
Red Wolf](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/amazon-camera-trap-pictures/#/short-eared-dog-peru_10215_600x450.jpg)
SHORT EARED DOG (Atelocynus microtis) © Peruvian Amazon Biodiversity Project
Photos From the Peruvian Amazon Biodiversity Project: Short-eared Dog
The few studies done on the extremely rare Short-eared Dog (photographed by a camera trap on May 4, 2008) have centered on its diet, which mostly consists of rodents and fruit. Many people don’t realize two species of wild dog roam the Amazon rain forest, the National Zoo’s Kolowski said, so these photos show people “animals that they know nothing about and may not [have] even thought existed.”
(read more: National Geo)
The short-eared dog competes for food with the Jaguar, Cougar, Ocelot, Margay and Giant Otter, and competes for territory with the Bush Dog.
Feral dogs pose a prominent threat to the population of short-eared dogs, as they facilitate the spread of diseases such as canine distemper and rabies to the wild population. Humans also contribute to the extermination of the short-eared dog via degradation of the species’ natural habitat and the destruction of tropical rainforests. Scientists still have little knowledge of its biology.
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HAIRY CRAB (Kiwa hirsuta)
Photograph by Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore
Kiwa hirsuta is a crustacean discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean. This decapod, which is approximately 15 cm (6 inches) long, is notable for the quantity of silky blond setae (resembling fur) covering its pereiopods (thoracic legs, including claws). Its discoverers dubbed it the “yeti lobster” or “yeti crab.” K. hirsuta was discovered in March 2005 by a group organized by Robert Vrijenhoek of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey, California and Michel Segonzac of the Ifremer and a Census of Marine Life scientist using the submarine DSV Alvin, operating from RV Atlantis.
The discovery was found 1,500 km (900 miles) south of Easter Island in the South Pacific, at a depth of 2,200 m (7,200 feet), living on hydrothermal vents along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. Based on both morphology and molecular data, the species was deemed to form a new genus and family (Kiwaidae). The animal has strongly reduced eyes that lack pigment, and is thought to be blind. The “hairy” pincers contain filamentous bacteria, which the creature may use to detoxify poisonous minerals from the water emitted by the hydrothermal vents where it lives. Alternatively, it may feed on bacteria, although it is generally thought to be a carnivore.
Fact Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwa_hirsuta
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