Strange and amazing creatures: Symbion pandora

[GoddessOfGuinness]

Key:
1 - adhesive disc attached to bristle surrounding lobster's mouth
2 - dwarf male
3 - anus
4 - ring of cilia around mouth funnel


This guy, discovered in 1995, lives on Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) lips.

[bridgit]

1. dammit!! and here i thought i had parasites attached to my...

every move x( that dude does look like a well used, unventilated vacuum bag though i must say :hi: mine can still pass for dinner guests :thumbsup:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. Did you see this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4530303#4530332

[bridgit]

3. yes, i know, call me silly, but i see these early forms as some of...

thee most amazing applications of life process' http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/AlienSafari_launch_page.html where are their evangelical interpretations of the totality of life :shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. What a cool site!

Son of GoG will have fun with that this afternoon. Thanks!

[bridgit]

18. Son of GoG kick...

B-) :kick:

[swimboy]

5. Please tell me that's not actual size!

:scared:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. Not to worry...

It averages 350 µm long. :)
More info here:
http://www.microscopy-uk.net/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.net/mag/articles/pandora.html

[A-Schwarzenegger]

7. GoG, if you get a chance to see this show...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/tv/blueplanet/programme2.shtml

you'll go gaga. It was on Discovery a couple days ago.
It's about the creatures of the abyssal plain, 3000 meters
under the ocean's surface, a plain that cover's half of the earth's
surface. Humans have explored less than 1% of it and discover a
new specie every ten days.... They picture a couple of the fish
from the show on the above page, one a monster and the other
a "Dumbo" fish, which you can enlarge on the above page. It swims
with its fun-ears. But please see it if you get a chance, see
the show. Mouth-dropping strange & amazing creatures galore!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. I saw it the other night...Amazing!

David Attenborough is one of my favorite narrators, too. :D

[Frozen Hamster]

17. FYI: the Dumbo is not a fish, it's an octopus

The tentacles give it away.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

19. Oh, so it's kind of . . . mixed?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. I have to ask...

Who is that zapping poor Oprah?

[El Fuego]

8. What an icky critter

I read the article,that is really interesting! It looks just like it has vacuum attachments.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. It is like that!

Notice the labels in the pic...There are actually two symbion pandoras there. One is a dwarf male (marked #2)

[Jamastiene]

9. Here's another one with a name that is often censored...

It's Latin name translates to "Aquatic Scrotum" and it lives in Lake Titicaca. I kid you not. You can't make this stuff up. Here's the link.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/212index.shtml

[Blue-Jay]

11. *yoink*!

I officially call dibs on "Aquatic Scrotum" as a band name!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

14. I'd go to see them!

:rofl:

[Jamastiene]

21. I have been wanting to see that used for years now, but

have not been able to con anybody I have played with into using it yet. Either a band name or an album title would be great. Actually, I wanted to use Lake Titicaca and the Aquatic Scrotums as ae band name because the frogs are from that lake in Peru and it's pronounced exactly how it is spelled. It would sound like Lake Titty Cocka and the Aquatic Scrotums. Imagine the fun your band could have with that. Please use it and remember me when you make it big. :hi:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. He's wonderful!

I love this part:
"The frogs have long been considered by the indigenous community to have special powers. In some parts, they are used as 'rain-makers' - in times of drought, a large frog is carried in a ceramic pot to a hilltop, where its distressed calls are interpreted as its cries for rain. When the rains come, the pot overflows, allowing the sacred frog to escape."

[Jamastiene]

22. I loved that part too.

Aint' he adorable? I'd love to have one of those as a pet. Too bad they are endangered. I wonder if we could start a bumper sticker campaign to save the aquatic scrotums?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. I bet they'd sell like hotcakes!

Is there an organization dedicated to saving them?

[CarpeDiebold]

15. hehehe you said anus

:silly:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. uranus

;-)