I'll take them Isopods with these here Russian Invertebrates from the White Sea. All pictures belong to Alexander Semenov and most of my facts were pulled from the article written by Michele Collet here:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-under-white-sea-alexander-semenov?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+environmentalgraffiti+%28Environmental+Graffiti%29*see this link for the second sunstar image from the passage refrence below
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Crossaster_papposus_-_Oslo_Zoological_Museum_-_IMG_9093.jpgAnd to start off the weirdness how about a shrimp; with no exoskeleton. he's called the skeleton shrimp more because of his looks, something like a cross between an inchworm (during locomotion), a walking stick (while resting) and a praying mantis while hunting. they are small enough to blend perfectly with the local sea grass. Next on the list is a four million year old veteran of the sea, a rare brachiopod, Semenov has caught a wonderful image of the creature's digestive organ known as its lophophore. According to Collet's research (also gathered by Semenov and other scientists) this variety has survived as it seems that crustaceans and fish dislike the taste of them. They mention that sibling species have died off, perhaps with speculation due to a tastier flesh
. Our next White Sea guest may feel vaguely familiar, nicknamed the sandworm, Nerei Pellagica is a rather large invertebrate growing lengths up to 40 centimeters and in width almost as wide around as your thumb. The frill like tendrils on its side are twofold in function, acting as multiple lungs as well as paddle-like oars that it uses to move through the water around it. The follower up may make you lose your lunch while trying to get its own. Nereis Virens not only is fairly unattractive due to many folds of skin, when hunting has the mildly disturbing habit of throwing its entire pharynx and mouth forward to its meal. the first image is the critter's face the second his attack on either the Semenov's camera or prey off camera. Our next White Sea guest is a luminescent sea slug whose spine colors depend upon what it eats and is very common. This next russian specimen is actually unidentified creature called an amphipoda, of which there are some 230 species in the White Sea. Aphipoda are shell-less crustaceans whose legs are distincly different unlike their isopod cousins. Returning to the sea slugs here is another wonderful example, this one bears a green digestive system and is fairly rare where the second image of its golden brown cousin is of a much more common species. Our next guest is rather tricky because it looks like a luminescent flower, its actually a plankton eating predator that is only 3-4 mm in size. This next gorgeous find by Semenov is the Lepidonotus Squamatus which have twelve scales. Here you see the green scales of a female, males would be a pale color due the the semen they carry. Next runner up is an image Semenov took of the skin of a sunstar. A common sea star which holds the title for the fastest of its kind, and will devour anything, including other sunstars. I also found a regular image of one on wiki for which i've provided linkage* . Another of Semenov's White Sea Beauties would be the predatory juvenile sea slug called the Sea Angel, they match their metabolism to their immediate prey the Sea butterfly. This creature gained its name from its podal lobes that look like black wings while it beats them through the water. They are about the size of a lentil. Now hopefully you aren't tired of reading yet, and we shall see if this doesn't take up a page
. Next on the list is a Metridium Sea Anemone that has a central stalk surounded by its other long tendrils. However this specimen has purple tentacles, making it rare, normally they sport orange or yellow tendrils, Semenov once again outdoing himself. Now this next image there are two creatures, and if it weren't for the counterpart's eyes you might miss the odd little guy, reportedly they look like small bears or elephant embryos, they are called Limanpontia, the two here are adults. They are generally brown but others can be lighter, as per the more visible one in Semenov's picture. This next specimen was dubbed the iSlug by Semenov, it is fairly common and its red color comes from its food source once again.
This next one doesn't really make the creature score but it sucks (somewhat literally) to be a microscopic critter near this interesting little plant
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9399000/9399877.stm
