The Scary Sea: Final Installment

I've saved the best for last.
Long ago I had heard of an Amazonian fish
that swam up the peeholes of unsuspecting men.
If you think that sounds vulgar,
just wait til you hear what these little fishies do.











The Candiru aka: toothpick fish, willy fish or canero
is a parasitic freshwater catfish.
He earned the toothpick nickname
because of his size.

Under normal circumstances
this guy would be attracted to the urea and ammonia
that is expelled from the gills of a bigger fish,
Toothpick swims up into the gills
puffs out his spikes and sucks the hosts blood.









Now.
Imagine one doing that to your penis, vagina, or butt,
Terrible thought.
Though it was a reality for this guy
Enjoy this Youtube Video of an Animal Planet special
on the Candiru!





HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The Scary Sea: Part Three

Another fish that you generally want to stay clear of
is the moray eel.














A predator with teeth that are made to tear things apart.
mainly fish, but I'm sure that a few unlucky folks
have had some real bad encounters.
Like a fool I googled "Moray Eel Bites"
the first site i clicked on had some gruesome photos.
if you want to wander, check out www.wemjournal.org
they aren't pleasant to look at though.

Generally, like most of our other dangerous buddies,
the Moray Eel is not likely to attack humans without being threatened.
Which is a good thing, because in addition to the crazy set of teeth
they have in the front, they also have a second set of jaws!
Which can be found in their throat.
These are called Pharyngeal Jaws, and they are the only known creature
to be the proud owners of them.
Their purpose is to help them keep hold of struggling prey.
.delightful.

Besides the obvious damage a bite could do,
they can also do a double whammy if you decide to eat it.
The Moray Eel can occasionally cause something called
Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
I'll spare you the symptoms but feel free to wander there as well.

See You Tomorrow Sailors!

the scary sea: part due

I was trying to think of scary sea creatures
and the first 2 that came to mind
were lampreysand piranha's.
While they are really scary
they don't normally pose a threat to humans.
I think piranha's are more inclined
to attack then lampreys
(at least when provoked)
So I kept searching and I came upon the Barracuda.











Now, I don't know about you but
I had always been under the assumption
that the Barracuda was a moderately sized fish
that was maybe 2-3 feet in length.
Think again.
The Barracuda can grow up to 6 ft in length
and weigh up to 100 lbs.
Six feet!!! Does that blow anyone elses mind?!
According to Wikipedia, they rarely attack
unless provoked, and if they do
they will cease after one bite because we are not fish.
Still.
The idea of being ambushed by a
sharp toothed, 6 ft fish at 27 mph
is not alluring.

The Scary Sea: Part 1

Halloween is less than a week away,
so I was thinking that until then I'd post
about some terrifying creatures of the deep!
These fishies will swallow you whole,
or provide a more torturous end to you.
enjoy!


Starting this off is my favorite shark of all time.
(Though I'd never want to see one in person...)
The Megalodon!
This prehistoric shark is considered to have been
the biggest fish in the sea!
Because there is no specimen to study,
only an estimate can be made on its actual size.
Scientists took the size of the Meg's tooth and
compared it to other sharks teeth and their lengths.
So this since this is the tooth...


Scientists estimate that Meg is about 52 feet long and around 48 tons.
52 feet with teeth like those?
I don't even think I'd wade in the ocean.
Lucky for is Meg hasn't been around for 2-20 Million years.
or so we think....
As with everything mysterious there are those who think Meg didn't die out so long ago.
Up until the 70's there had been Meg sightings (or so they claim)
And really who is to say?
There is no way of knowing when this shark officially died out.

In my search for "believers", there was a book mentioned
-naturally I was excited at the possibility of a book about this shark-
but no. it's a novel. Probably similar to Jaws.
so sad. I prefer my sea monsters in non-fiction.
but if it seems like your cupa tea,
then check out "Meg" by Steven Alten



That's it for this installment,
check back tomorrow for more of the Scary Sea!

squids for sale

Today is all about squid and sea creature art.
There is some amazing stuff on etsy right now.
so check these out!!

This is "Blue Squidy"
from the shop of Imogen
I love this pendant, as any squid lover would.
and at 8$ its a steal!




















I am a big fan of Cleo Dee.
She has squids for every occasion,
and if you want you can even customize your own.
CarlyValentine got me one last Christmas!
It was a business squid with a hat and briefcase.
it is currently hanging on my wall.
This is the cookie squid. $16 for handmade cephalopod perfection.

















I am newly obsessed with this little guy
i typed "sea creatures" in the search bar and there he was.
I focus a lot on squid, but i have a very large place in my heart for the manatee.
I collect any kind of manatee items i can, pins, socks, keychains, stuffed animals.
If i wasn't so broke i'd buy him from NeedleNoodles
Sad isn't it. I cannot afford an 11$ manatee.
but enough about me. lets talk about...














Jellyfish!
Bags!
Jellyfish on bags!
This is from the shop of WhitneyArtell
and for 18$ you can have a sweet tote
that no one else will have!
That is the beauty of etsy.
awesome one-of-a-kinds at excellent prices.

.














I'm in the process of creating new things for my own etsy page,
keep an eye out for more onesies, stationary, cards, and some squid

New Creatures!

Jackpot in Southest Asia
or right near it really, in the Celebes Sea.
Which is between Malaysia and the Phillipines.

These creatures are ridiculously fantastic!
especially the squid and jelly.
lets start with the mini cephalopod
since i love them so...


This little guy is 0.2" long, he was viewed by a microscope
which makes him a far cry from humboldts and giant squid.
National Geographic calls him a "young squid"
which makes me wonder....will he grow to gigantic
lengths and still retain the creepy red and black eyes?!
to be honest i don't want to find out.
But I'm a fan of this guy.

Next we have the most exotic jellyfish I've ever seen.

She is a Red Medusa Jellyfish, resident of the Celebes Sea, and completely amazing.
National Geographic wrote:
"The animal's deep red hue is actually common among these jellyfish.
Although it is not visible in the ocean's dark depths,
the color masks any bioluminescence given off by prey
trapped inside the jellies' guts."
Sadly they do not write much about these creatures
but they are new so I will let it slide this time.


I will definitely be making prints of these creatures, so keep an eye out.

festive crustaceans

Every crustacean has his day and for this particular one
it is All Hallows Day.
Ladies and gents, meet the Halloween crab!

This fine creature is a resident of Costa Rica, he and his family and friends live on the land in burrows they create.
However, they must remain close to water because if their lungs do not stay wet, they will cease to exist.

In my hunt for facts about these guys (and there wasn't much) I found that, apparently, people keep them as pets.
Which seems a little unecessary-who really needs rainforest crabs in their home anyway??