Stumbled upon the Glass Jellyfish, a photo album over at PangalacticTrading.com. They are pictures of the works of Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. It reminds me a of the delicate glass rotifer sculptures at the American Museum of Natural History.
The second half of the 19th century was a time of great scientific discovery. New museums were being built throughout the world and many existing private museums were opening to the public. New galleries were designed to display the expanding array of known living plants and animals. For many groups of animals this was easily done…But what about soft bodied animals such as jellyfish and sea anemones? Examples of these animals could be pickled in spirit to preserve them, but this in no way reflected their extraordinary appearance in life. Their colours quickly faded and their shapes became distorted as the tissues shrank. Papier-mâché and wax models could not capture their translucence and transparency. Leopold Blaschka, a brilliant glassworker and amateur naturalist, devised a solution to this problem - vividly recreating these life forms modelling them in glass.
There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.
Need another hint? Click here.
Some folks know St. Christopher as the patron saint of travelers. It is not uncommon to keep a small icon of him in a car for safe transit. My own little Honda has a slightly leggier talisman watching over us. Some might discount the putative protective power of cephalopods. But from this account in Panabasis, the Journal of the Janus Museum, you can clearly see there is precedence for their benevolence :).
Very pleased to announce a major museum acquisition, Ex Voto Pulpo, a contemporary anonymous painting on a steel sheet. For those not familiar with the term, an ex voto is a thanks offering to the Virgin or to a saint. Many, like our acquisition, commemorate a miraculous intervention. This particular ex voto is personally gratifying because it shows a cephalopod in a very sympathetic light - the octopus is saving the chap in the boat, you see, and not attacking him - its stern expression is a look of steely determination, rather than anger….
It’s always dolphins that get credited with epimeletic1 behavior. Clearly there is a need to also consider the beneficence of octopuses as well.
(Via ponto, who has also documented recent less charitable encounters between certain Felis sp. and Architeuthis dux)
Another Podcast Aquatic, check it out:
The Dolphin Pod is a podcast produced by researchers from the Dolphin Communication Project and Immersion Presents. It is a weekly science podcast providing subscribers with information concerning dolphin behavior, cognition, anatomy, physiology, conservation, etc. Additionally, The Dolphin Pod covers dolphin events in the news, summarizes and explains the results from recent studies on dolphins, and interviews scientists currently working on dolphin-related research projects.
The Dolphin Communication Project is a private, non-profit research foundation organized to further the following goals: 1) To promote awareness of marine mammal conservation, 2) To increase knowledge of communication behaviors between and among all dolphin species.
Immersion Presents is a nationally acclaimed after-school science media organization that provides educational programming to students across the United States.
UPDATE: If you are interested in the Dolphin Pod podcast, you might also be interested in the Act for Dolphins podcast.
Act for Dolphins is a campaign led by marine scientists, The Ocean Project, The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to end the slaughter of thousands of wild dolphins in the annual Japanese drive hunts.
There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.
Need another hint? Click here.
There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.
Need another hint? Click here.
There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.
Can you guess what it is? Need another hint? Click here.
(Props to fbtb.net for the idea.)
A classic major discovery, according to one post on the Sea Turtle Listserv:
A FLATULENT turtle set off an aquarium’s fire alarm after being fed a Christmas treat of Brussels sprouts.
It broke wind and the bubble it created was so strong, it set off an emergency sensor inside its tank at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, Dorset, yesterday.
It indicated the water was at a dangerously high level, so marine biologist Sarah Leaney rushed to the aquarium.
Perhaps if the turtle was given access to the Attack of the Sprouts game, the results would have been less alarming 8O.
![SeaScope Aquatic Activities from LaMER [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061226a.gif)
Continuing with our tour of supplementary material made available by your local Sea Grant College Program, we turn to Louisana’s Marine Education Resource Center. Their SeaScope Aquatic Activities section offers the following PDF handouts for free:
SeaScope activity folios are written by teachers for teachers. They use the video microscope nicknamed “Scope-On-A-Rope” (SOAR) in science lessons on aquatic organisms.
- - -
An interactive virtual squid dissection demo is available from another site, Froguts.com.
In May, 2001, 5th graders at Lunalilo School dissected a squid and posted a video documentary of their experience.
![3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225a.jpg)
The Delaware Sea Grant program has a neat resource for educators. I mentioned it in the latest podcast, but wanted to bump it up to its own post too. Here’s the description from their annual report:
Learn all about the smooth dogfish shark as you put together your very own 3-D paper model! This eight-page, full-color project meets the National Science Education Standards. It includes background on sharks, the model parts to cut out with scissors and tape together, and a crossword puzzle to test your knowledge. Cost: $1. Contact: Marine Public Education, (302) 831-8083.
![Interior 3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225c.jpg)
Unfortunately, there is no further Internet-based info that I could find, so you will have to call to find out more. Or listen to the SeaTalk Radio PSA about the model [mp3].
(Tip of the tentacle to Elizabeth and Kimberly for the resource.)
UPDATE: I notice that a lot of people searching for dogfish dissections end up finding this post. If you need illustrations of a Squalus acanthias dissection, check out BIODIDAC. They have photos and line drawings to help you. Keyword search: dogfish. Available in English and French.
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cephalopod061224.mp3 [14.4 MB 00:30:24 ]
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Show Notes:
- Intro
- Features
- Point of Rocks Sound-Seeing Tour
- CephaloNews
- News
- Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act
- Resources
–
Thanks for listening. If you have ideas for future programs or feedback, please send me a message at pulpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com, or call the Cephalo-Hotline at 1-941-256-0097. Also be sure to check out the cephal.icio.us links to see what’s coming down the ol’ Esox sp.1 for future shows.
–
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I CRUSH EVERYTHING [4:42]
Band: Jonathan Coulton
Pop
See also: Areas of My Expertise, by John Hodgman.
Man, this is wrong on so many levels.
Fish ‘n Flush is a hard-acrylic aquarium that holds 2.2 gallons of water and wraps around a separate 2.5-gallon toilet tank. The kit, from AquaOne Technologies, costs $299 and includes the aquarium and flushing systems, including filters, pump, two artificial plants and a guide. An LED light costs $25 extra.
UPDATE: Well, I guess there is a bathroom sink to add to the tacky decor choices. See also, the movie.
![Link to the Balaenateuthia page (DB) [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061223a_db.gif)
Daniel Bensen is a scientific illustrator who, along with his cohorts, dares to ask the question:
What if the Chicxulub bolide had missed the Earth?
Some of the weirdest animals on Spec are the balaenateuths or baleen-squids, a diverse group of flippered cephalopods with highly modified tentacles. They range in size from small, mesopelagic gems to immense filter-feeding giants. Absolutely nothing like them exists or has ever existed on Home-Earth.
As with squid and cuttlefish, balaenateuths possess ten tentacles, two of which are greatly elongated and whiplike. The whips terminate in a cluster of finger-like appendages (giving rise to the term “digibrachia” or finger-arms) that are partially retracted into chambers beneath the mantle when not in use. Six arms are shorter, more conventional-looking tentacles that may be equipped with rows of suckers or hooks. The last two arms, one on the top and one on the bottom, are greatly broadened and often internally reinforced with calcite or cartilage. Only capable of vertical motion, they superficially resemble a set of vertebrate jaws and are sometimes referred to as “gnathobrachia” or jaw-arms.
![Link to the Grand Baleen-squid , Megacalamari grandis (DB) [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061223b_db.jpg)
It seems to follow in the footsteps of Dougal Dixon, whose books New Dinosaur and After Man I cherished as a child and still thumb through to this day. A more recent approach was undertaken by Discovery Communications.
Much, much more can be found at The Speculative Dinosaur Project. Be sure to also read up on:
Strangely, all updates from Daniel’s site seem to end circa 2005. Anyone know what’s up with that?
Mark Isaak’s delightful site gathers together evidence of the perverse humor that lurks within many taxonomists.
Scientific names of organisms are not usually known for their entertainment value. They are indispensable for clarity in communication, but most people skip over them with barely a glance. Here I collect those names that are worth a second look.
A mere sampling of this trove of wonders:
- Abra cadabra (Eames & Wilkins) 1957 (clam) Now, alas, in the genus Theora.
- Aha ha Menke, 1988 (sphecid)
- Ittibittium Houbrick, 1993 (mollusc) These are smaller than molluscs of the genus Bittium.
- Notnops, Taintnops, Tisentnops Platnick, 1994 (caponiid spiders) These Chilean spiders were originally placed in the genus Nops, but Platnick separated them into these new genera when he reexamined them.
- Ptomaspis, Dikenaspis, Ariaspis (Devonian armored jawless fish) Remove the “-aspis” to see the pun.
- Vini vidivici Steadman & Zarriello, 1987 (a recently extinct parrot from the Marquesas Islands) The genus Vini has been in use since 1831.
I am sure it’s in there somewhere, but one of my favorites is the Jackknife fish (Equetus lanceolatus). There is also the recent classification of several slime-mold beetles named after Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld and another beetle after Darth Vader. Of course some folks argue that a little less frivolity and a little more serious abstraction is needed in regards to classification.
See also:
UPDATE: This just in from the folks over at TONMO:
The scientific name for the wonderpus is Wonderpus photogenicus From work that will soon be published by Hochberg, Norman, Finn.
Some are calling it a Cephalopodmas miracle :):
More info from the source.
Discussion over at TONMO.com.
Nice commentary from Broken Type the last time we had giant squid fever.
Every time a giant squid turns up, thousands of people link to it from their weblogs, or forward it to their friends along with a calamari joke.
See also Alex’s latest melancholic thoughts.
UPDATE: You can now see the commemorative T-shirt to go along with this momentous event.
![Gibbous Cephalopodmas! [300x300, 16K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/cephalopodmas.gif)
Be on the look out for Santa Jaws!
“Don’t forget! Cephalopodmas falls on December 22nd by the human calendar! Get your special squamous someone something fetid!”
On the thirteenth day of Cephalopodmas,
Cthulhu gave to me
Thirteen Hapalochlaena,
Twelve ink sacs squirting,
Eleven Architeuthis,
Ten ammonites,
Nine tentacles strangling,
Vampyroteuthis infernalis,
Seven photophores a-flashing,
Six arms a-flaying,
Grimpoteuthis,
Four snapping beaks,
Three suckers,
Two cuttlefish,
And Histioteuthis heteropsis.
More lyrics…
Caitlin R. Kiernan
Worldwide celebrations
UPDATE: I am assuming that this post by PZ Myers is the origin of the celebration of Cephalopodmas. Some one please correct me if I am wrong. As to the origins of cephalopodmas.org, I was able to confirm that it was started by Glenn Peters:
Short story short-ish: someone on Caitlin R. Kiernan’s journal mentioned cephalopodmas….I was amused by the idea…so I whipped up a quick website, and Caitlin wrote a carol for it.
UPDATE: It looks like the folks in Bump Town know how to prepare for Cephalopodmas! (via squid.us)
![3-D Dogfish Shark Model [200x150, 12K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_061225b.jpg)
![Link to the Grand Baleen-squid , Megacalamari grandis (DB) [200x150, 12K]](http://www.bowdoin.edu/~dbensen/Spec/SDsquid.jpg)
Jason Robertshaw
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