Red and Purple Jellyfish (Crossota millsae)
Crossota millsae is a brilliant red and purple jellyfish also found off California and Hawaii. This specimen was collected near the bottom of the Arctic Ocean in 2,000m of water. Males and females have both been described, and it reproduces sexually. It was named after Dr. Claudia Mills, a marine scientist at the Friday Harbor Laboratories.
Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker (Eumicrotremus orbis)
A lot of people who see Pacific spiny lumpsuckers for the first time describe them as a ping-pong ball with fins. They are tiny and very inefficient swimmers, found most often in kelp or eelgrass beds attached to a rock or a log no deeper than 500 feet. They are quite common, ranging from the waters off the Washington coast, up around the arc of the Aleutian Islands, to the Asian mainland and the northern islands of Japan, and in the Bering Sea. A giant Pacific spiny lumpsucker is five inches long, but most are closer to an inch. Scuba divers are their biggest fans because the little fellows will eat right out of their hands.
Sea Swallow, Blue Glaucus, Blue sea slug or Blue ocean slug (Glaucus atlanticus)
A species of medium-sized blue sea slug, a pelagic aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Glaucidae. The normal size of this species is between 5 and 8 cm in length. This nudibranch is pelagic, and is distributed throughout the world’s oceans, in temperate and tropical waters. Glaucus is, like most sea slugs, a hermaphrodite, containing both male and female reproductive organs.
Luna Moth (Actias luna)
The Luna moth is a light-green moth that has long, curving tails on its hindwings and distinctive eyespots on all four wings. This nocturnal insect is found in deciduous hardwood forests in North America, from Canada to Northern Mexico. Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna Moths are considered common. As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths. They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week. They are more commonly seen at night.
“Darth Vader” Jellyfish (Bathykorus bouilloni)
The new jellyfish is in the order Narcomedusae. It has four tentacles, 12 stomach pouches, and most interestingly, four small secondary tentacles at the very edge of the bell. While foraging for food, this species holds its long tentacles, covered with poison filled stinging cells, out in front while it swims, perhaps to ambush its prey more effectively.
Violet Sea Snail (Janthina prolongata)
The foot is covered with a mass of tiny mucous-coated air bubbles which the snail constructs to give itself buoyancy. Attached to this bubble raft the snail floats upside down on the surface of the ocean, preying on jellyfish and ctenophores. Violet snails discharge a violet- coloured ink when disturbed, hence the name.
Purple Frog, Pignose Frog or Doughnut Frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis)
The chubby, seven-centimetre-long, purple amphibian with a pointy snout was found hopping around in the Western Ghats, a range of hills in western India. Its head appears too small for its body and it looks more like a squat, grumpy blob than a living creature.
Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis nutricula)
The turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish may be the only animal in the world to have truly discovered the fountain of youth. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life). Turritopsi nutricula can regenerate its entire body over and over again. Researchers are studying the jellyfish to discover how it is able to reverse its aging process.
In other words, Turritopsi nutricula can bypass death. They are truly immortal.
Mwanza Flat-headed Agama or Mwanza Flat-headed Rock Agama (Agama mwanzae)
A species of lizard from the Agamidae family, found in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya. It can often be seen in the heat of the day basking on rocks or kopjes. The male’s head, neck and shoulders are bright red or violet, while the body dark blue. The female is mostly brown and is difficult to distinguish from other female agamas..
The species has become a fashionable pet due to its coloration which resembles the comic book superhero Spider-Man.
Bloodybelly Comb Jelly (Lampocteis cruentiventer)
Brilliant and seemingly glowing, the bloodybelly comb jelly comes in different shades of red but always has a blood-red stomach. The sparkling display on the outside comes from light diffracting from tiny transparent, hair-like cilia. These beat continuously, propelling the jelly through the water. Scientists believe the bloodybelly’s red belly helps mask bioluminescent light from the prey it swallows. A predator with a glowing gut could easily become prey.
