Enypniastes
Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 6:15 pmNature is awesome…
Transparent sea cucumber Enypniastes, via oceanleadership.org
And while I’m doing pretties, a dreamlike flower with hummingbirds by Martin Johnson Heade.
And for the cute, a sea pig…
And for the weird… as Stu said, these people obviously aren’t marine biologists.
January 12th, 2010 at 7:19 am
All of these things are highly interesting, but the last just begs the question….what in the hell is that thing? I gigantic sea-going vagina? One that EXPLODES, of all things? *is deeply confused*
January 12th, 2010 at 7:46 am
At first I thought it was some kind of sea cucumber, since they fling their innards out as a defence, but the anatomy doesn’t look right, and it really does seem to explode…maybe it’s fake, as some of the commenters suggest; there does seem something a bit put on in the way they pour soda on it. Though I can’t help hoping it’s real. You can never have too many explosive pelagic vaginas.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
That sea cucumber is unbelievable! It’s like a… womb orchid.
I was horrified on behalf of the highly suggestive-looking thingie being poked, and then I couldn’t stop wondering about it – extended Googling just about confirms that it’s fake, done with a combination of puppetry and CGI. Also, it led me to this delightful Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_animal
Also, have you seen this incredible deep-sea fish with a transparent forehead and swiveling, tubular eyes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM9o4VnfHJU
January 12th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I’m torn between being sorry that the pelagic vagina is a hoax and glad that, since it’s a hoax, it can’t be tormented into exploding. Looking at that Wiki page — and isn’t it great that there’s an entry for exploding animals? — I’m yet again awed by the bloody-strangeness of nature. (The mental image of exploding ants makes me think of Lemmings.)
I’ve seen photos of the tube-eyed fish, but not the video before now. It looks like an avant-garde conceptual bath toy…
January 13th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Yo! I’ve never commented here before, but when I saw the Japanese beast-thing I felt compelled to link this- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKeDyb7uFN8 ?
January 13th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Japan is almost as awesome as nature! As the natural animals go extinct, Japan can make weird rubber robot substitutes.