Our required reading this semester includes a fascinating book called Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime, The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter by author and biologist Ellen Prager. It is a funny and mind-blowing look at the huge diversity of creatures under the sea, from lobsters and sea cucumbers to arrow worms and phytoplankton. For each one, Prager gives us a look at how they live, eat, mate and survive, and why they matter to us humans. The following are just a few specimens we found beautiful, grotesque or both. Enjoy!
The Hair-raising Hagfish
The hagfish, as its name implies, is a fish. It looks like an eel and it acts like a vulture of the ocean, just waiting for a tasty carcass to come its way. This frightful creature is blind, slippery and has barbed tentacles around its jawless (but not toothless!) mouth. It inhabits the cool depths of the world's oceans.
Hagfish have one fang and two rows of sharp teeth, and they feed on the soft flesh and innards of their dead, or almost dead, prey. Perhaps we shouldn't mention it... but they go in through any and all orifices of their prey in order to directly access the soft organs and guts therein. Their love of dead and dying food sources makes them a great cleaner-upper of the ocean floor.
Another wondrous fact about hagfish is this: they attack their enemies with slime, so much slime that they can even suffocate themselves by mistake. Their predators include octopuses, seals and dolphins... brave warriors against the slimy old hagfish! And we do mean OLD - for 330 million years the hagfish has existed pretty much as it is now - slimy, deadly, cool.
Hagfish have one fang and two rows of sharp teeth, and they feed on the soft flesh and innards of their dead, or almost dead, prey. Perhaps we shouldn't mention it... but they go in through any and all orifices of their prey in order to directly access the soft organs and guts therein. Their love of dead and dying food sources makes them a great cleaner-upper of the ocean floor.
Another wondrous fact about hagfish is this: they attack their enemies with slime, so much slime that they can even suffocate themselves by mistake. Their predators include octopuses, seals and dolphins... brave warriors against the slimy old hagfish! And we do mean OLD - for 330 million years the hagfish has existed pretty much as it is now - slimy, deadly, cool.
Click to go to Hagfish video blog post
http://www.oceanlink.info/biodiversity/hagfish/hagfish.html (More Info on Hagfish)
http://www.oceanlink.info/biodiversity/hagfish/hagfish.html (More Info on Hagfish)
Mimic Octopus
The mimic octopus is almost 50 centimeters long and has brown and white stripes or spots all over its body. It lives in the tropical seas of South East Asia. The mimic has 8 arms, a large brain (although it lacks the sense of hearing), 3 hearts and other internal organs. Its arms have 2 rows of suckers, each sucker having a touch sensor and a chemoreceptor, allowing the mimic effectively to feel and taste its food before it eats it.
The mimic octopus has an AMAZING TALENT - so far 15 separate species are known to be in the mimic octopus act. This creative creature is able to camouflage itself to blend in with its background by changing its skin color and texture. The octopus can change his appearance if it senses danger and mimic impressions such as lion fish, sea snakes, sole/flatfish, just to name a few.
The mimic octopus has an AMAZING TALENT - so far 15 separate species are known to be in the mimic octopus act. This creative creature is able to camouflage itself to blend in with its background by changing its skin color and texture. The octopus can change his appearance if it senses danger and mimic impressions such as lion fish, sea snakes, sole/flatfish, just to name a few.
Lobster (aka "Cockroach of the Sea")
The world’s oceans are home to more than one hundred species commonly called the “cockroaches of the sea”, a.k.a. lobsters. Lobsters live up to their nickname, “cockroaches of the sea” because they have been known to consume almost anything. Their diet includes various items: “pieces of plastic, tea bags, wool, and even a rusty nail.” Although lobsters are well known species and are often associated with the dinner table, the way they function may not be well known to the average person.
Eccentric Habits
In addition to being yummy, the lobster is also “eccentric”. Lobsters exhibit many "eccentric" behaviors, such as:
Molting
As the lobster grows, he/she has to replace their carapace to house the bigger body. The process is lengthy and exhausting, as it may take days for the lobster recover. It also can happen multiple times throughout the year.
As the molting process begins, “a new paper-thin exo-skeleton starts to form under its shell and its blood is moved from its outer appendages, like the claws, spines, or legs, into the body. Then it is time for a really big drink. A lobster guzzles water so that its body swells and its old carapace is pushed apart. Essentially some serious bloating causes the lobster to unzip, unhinge, and literally burst at the seams. Lying on its side, slicked up with some lubricating slime, a lobster then must pull its body, including the antennae, legs, spines, claws, and mouthparts out from the remains of its old shell.” (Prager, page...) Fascinating, right?
Despite the fact that these functions may appear to be eccentric, they are vital and necessary for the lobster to perform, because that is their means of survival. This continuity is a major contribution to the sustainability of the ocean’s ecosystem.
Eccentric Habits
In addition to being yummy, the lobster is also “eccentric”. Lobsters exhibit many "eccentric" behaviors, such as:
- slicing off their own appendages and growing back another in its place
- blasting pee in order to entice their mate (Love Potion #9)
- females storing the sperm of males under their abdomen for three years
- perhaps the most eccentric and fascinating aspect is the lobster’s ability to molt...
Molting
As the lobster grows, he/she has to replace their carapace to house the bigger body. The process is lengthy and exhausting, as it may take days for the lobster recover. It also can happen multiple times throughout the year.
As the molting process begins, “a new paper-thin exo-skeleton starts to form under its shell and its blood is moved from its outer appendages, like the claws, spines, or legs, into the body. Then it is time for a really big drink. A lobster guzzles water so that its body swells and its old carapace is pushed apart. Essentially some serious bloating causes the lobster to unzip, unhinge, and literally burst at the seams. Lying on its side, slicked up with some lubricating slime, a lobster then must pull its body, including the antennae, legs, spines, claws, and mouthparts out from the remains of its old shell.” (Prager, page...) Fascinating, right?
Despite the fact that these functions may appear to be eccentric, they are vital and necessary for the lobster to perform, because that is their means of survival. This continuity is a major contribution to the sustainability of the ocean’s ecosystem.
Why They Matter...
The hagfish, lobster and other residents of the sea floor are essential as sources of food for humans and other consumers, and in this capacity are movers of carbon up the food chain. Although hagfish may seem unappetizing to the Western diner, it is a highly sought after delicacy in places like Korea. Both hagfish skin, which can be made into purses, etc., and hagfish slime, which has potential as a renewable resource, are unexpectedly useful.
Human Health Benefits
Because hagfish have survived millions of years eating bacteria-laden carcasses, scientists have begun to research what protects them against these potentially deadly microbes. Already researchers have found three useful antimicrobial compounds and are looking into other benefits to human health.
Lobsters and "Electronic Noses"
Lobsters have a unique ability to sniff out specific scents using what researchers have found to be the olfactory neuron, which "discharges small bursts of electrical pulses, much like radar uses pulses of radio energy to detect airplanes or thunderstorms." (Blouin, 2014.) This is now used to improve "electronic noses," which soldiers and scientists may be able to use to detect hazardous conditions, such as toxic gases or even landmines on the battlefield.
Human Health Benefits
Because hagfish have survived millions of years eating bacteria-laden carcasses, scientists have begun to research what protects them against these potentially deadly microbes. Already researchers have found three useful antimicrobial compounds and are looking into other benefits to human health.
Lobsters and "Electronic Noses"
Lobsters have a unique ability to sniff out specific scents using what researchers have found to be the olfactory neuron, which "discharges small bursts of electrical pulses, much like radar uses pulses of radio energy to detect airplanes or thunderstorms." (Blouin, 2014.) This is now used to improve "electronic noses," which soldiers and scientists may be able to use to detect hazardous conditions, such as toxic gases or even landmines on the battlefield.
References
"Hagfish." Retrieved from http://bio1152.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch34/hagfish.html
Mimic Octopus. NAD Lembeh Blog. Retrieved from http://nad-lembeh.com/blog/miscellaneous/2373/2373.html
Researchers find a lobster's sense of smell may hold the key to better electronic sensors. Blouin, M. Retrieved from http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-03-lobster-key-electronic-sensors.html
Kkomjangeo bokkeum. Retrieved from flickr.com/photos/creepyblues/1256875822/
"Hagfish." Retrieved from http://bio1152.nicerweb.com/Locked/media/ch34/hagfish.html
Mimic Octopus. NAD Lembeh Blog. Retrieved from http://nad-lembeh.com/blog/miscellaneous/2373/2373.html
Researchers find a lobster's sense of smell may hold the key to better electronic sensors. Blouin, M. Retrieved from http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-03-lobster-key-electronic-sensors.html
Kkomjangeo bokkeum. Retrieved from flickr.com/photos/creepyblues/1256875822/