This specimen is relatively small. P. diogenes is the world’s second-largest hermit crab species, growing large enough to inhabit a full sized queen conch shell and beaten only by the terrestrial coconut crab, which is a hermit crab that stops using shells when it matures.
I can only assume that the the “diogenes” in its name comes from some parallel drawn between the hermit crab’s shell and the philosopher’s habit of sleeping in a large jar.
There’s a globe-spanning layer of mesopelagic fish that is so dense it distorts SONAR. For decades we had no idea what created the Deep Scattering Layer or why it moved. We still know almost nothing about it.
Apparently 40% to 50% of that hidden biomass is mostly likely these guys, bristlemouths, and they are thought to be the most abundant vertebrates on Earth, numbering in the quadrillions. The mesopelagic zone makes up 20% of the oceans so while the estimates are based on limited sampling, so far bristlemouths have been there wherever scientists go looking.
Sluguenda also has a partner named Blue (not very original, BUT cute haha!) He is inspired by the gorgeous Carpathian slug species (look it up!). They have many babies XD
Also I was trying to buy Fresca for a drink recipe today and my local supermarket apparently no longer carries Fresca (it’s been literal years since I’ve been in the soda aisle, idk) so I settled for “Squirt”, a supposedly similar grapefruit flavored soda and now I can’t stop thinking about him
The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
, sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi languageand means devil bird or snake bird. The origin of the name snakebird is apparent when swimming: only the colored neck appears above water so the bird looks like a snake ready to strike. They do not have external nares (nostrils) and breathe solely through their epiglottis.
Like other darters, the anhinga hunts by spearing fish and other small prey using its sharp, slender beak.
