crome.org

At Newquay’s Blue Reef Aquarium, fish started disappearing from one of their reef tanks.  After observing for some weeks, nobody could figure out what was happening.  So there was nothing left to do but disassemble the reef rock by rock.  About half way through, they found Barry, a 4-foot long marine worm.

Thanks for the link Rob.

Barry; likes to hide, eat fish. Click image for more

Dolphis can steer their sonar using some kind of beamforming technology.

Dolphins can steer their sonar +- 20 degrees left and right by emitting multiple clicks.  This seems somewhat similar to beamforming, or perhaps more akin to a directional microphone.  I don’t understand the physics of it, but perhaps I can get hold of the actual paper and figure out more.  Sounds pretty nifty.

http://www.crome.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dolphin-sounds.mp3

Watch this video:  You will not be sorry.  You may be late for work however. Click on the ‘Watch this video’ button when you’re t the site.

Bedbug sperm depositor

Bedbugs reproduce by directly injecting little sperm-balls directly through the abdomen and into the female reproductive tract, bypassing the normal ‘use the opening that already exists’ method.  That’s normal for bedbugs and their ilk.  Turns out that there are some bedbug species that have figured out they can reproduce effectively by raping other males, putting their sperm into another male’s reproductive tract.  Then, when that male goes and mates with a female, he injects the other guy’s sperm into the female!

Click to read about the bedbugs and other terrifying penises.

One well hung crab

Rob and I were talking bout weird parasites. He told me about Rizocephala. This is a type of barnacle that, in its adult stage infects a crab, looses appendages, segmentation, and most organs. It attaches to the host crab, and grows like roots into the crab, centering on the digestive system. There is a bit of the barnacle that hangs out of the crab, its gonads. It grows in just the right spot shape and size to trick the crab into thinking it has a crab egg sack. And, crabs only molt after releasing their egg sack, so once infected, the crab never molts again. Oh yeah, and if this barnacle infects a male, well, the male treats the faux egg sack as if he were a female, and never molts again.