Comments

1. #1 Pat

   November 14, 2008

   Didn’t the B52′s do a song about the Squat Lobster? ;-D

   I also would like to officially place my order for a dozen “Adorable pebble crab” please.

   Thanks for the lovely pics of new stuff. Always a treat.

2. #2 Tamison

   November 14, 2008

   Comb jellies!! I do love those pretty bags of snot.

3. #3 ym

   November 14, 2008

   Wondrous!

4. #4 Katie

   November 14, 2008

   These are all obviously fake. The things don’t even have eyes.

5. #5 mr_subjunctive

   November 14, 2008

   @Pat:

   Heh. “Squat Lobster” was my first thought too.

6. #6 somebody

   November 14, 2008

   Katie:

   Well, let’s see: it’s the bottom of the ocean, there is not much light, so who would need eyes?

7. #7 Christopher Taylor

   November 14, 2008

   Didn’t the B52′s do a song about the Squat Lobster?

   Ding ding ding ding ding-a-ding-ding…

   Curse you! Do you realise how hard that tune is to dislodge from your brain?

   That Thaumastochelopsis is pretty impressive – is that really a pair of massively asymmetrical chelae?

   A new species of shrimp, seen here standing on a yellow worm (they both eat the same marine plants)

   Marine plants, or the crinoid they’re both sitting on (and looking pretty well camouflaged against) in the photo?

8. #8 Katie

   November 14, 2008

   You wouldn’t need eyes if your were FAKE either.

9. #9 Christopher Gwyn

   November 14, 2008

   ‘Rock Lobster’, not ‘Squat Lobster’. See http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/b-52s/rock_lobster/

10. #10 Alan Kellogg

    November 15, 2008

    Let us keep in mind that Katie is new to reality and hasn’t made the adjustment.

11. #11 Zelly

    November 15, 2008

    Curious question: Why is it that so many creatures at the ocean floor are white (or are they simply translucent?) It seems that in the darkness it would a disadvantage to be a color that so catches any light. Or is it something about a lack of need for pigment?

12. #12 Pat

    November 15, 2008

    I know the lyrics. It was a joke…a play on words. But thanks for the info.

    I am really enjoying the “fake things that don’t need eyes” debate. This is one of the best websites ever.

13. #13 David Schwartz

    November 16, 2008

    So does that squat lobster really only have 5 legs or is one hidden?

14. #14 katie 2.0

    November 17, 2008

    Pigmentation is required to protect an organism from UV rays, and various other sun-incurred rays. Aquatic life far from the sun’s penetration does not require pigmentation. Pigmentation becomes a useless, energy-consuming metabolic process, so it was lost through evolution to these guys. Besides, these guys are only shiny and obvious to us because a light is shining on them. I’d be willing to trade my pasty complexion for a nifty fluid, boneless body!

15. #15 Andrew B

    November 17, 2008

    Here’s a surprising fact: Benny doesn’t have eyes either! Rather, he “sees” with his acute sense of smell using scent receptors on his thighs.

16. #16 Amanda

    November 17, 2008

    The squat lobster does have the right number of legs. The last pair is usually tucked up into the thoracic cavity in Anomurans.

17. #17 Depigmentation

    November 18, 2008

    There is a close relation in the pigmentation of skin and melanin substances in human skin. Such relationship also exist in other organism too.

18. #18 zay?flama çay?

    November 20, 2008

    It seems that in the darkness it would a disadvantage to be a color that so catches any light.

19. #19 Zelly

    November 21, 2008

    To clarify, I meant from bioluminescent predators. Although I guess that doesn’t make a great deal of sense either…since there is very little light, does that mean creatures have great eyesight to cope or terrible eyesight since there’s nothing to see? *head explodes*

    Thanks Katie for the pigment response.

20. #20 be?i bir yerde

    November 23, 2008

    Aquatic life far from the sun’s penetration does not require pigmentation. Pigmentation becomes a useless, energy-consuming metabolic process, so it was lost through evolution to these guys.

21. #21 toni

    June 14, 2009

    what is the “creature” ANDREW has as his profile pic?? thanks

22. #22 Estefana Kurt

    July 2, 2012

    I had a lot of fun at Interface. They are really professional. I already had couple of calls and auditions!!!