Indian ink, water colours and guach.

Vampire squid by Carl Chun, 1903. Image from the NOAA Photo Library (Public Domain) Bela Lugosi as Dracula, anonymous photograph from 1931, Universal Studios (public domain).

So behind the Dracula cape hides not a monster, but a gentle recycler keeping the deep sea clean.

More about the squid:
www.mbari.org/animal/vampi...

#spookyspecies #biodiversity

It lives in the dark, deep sea.

But Instead of hunting the living, it drifts silently through the deep, collecting “marine snow”, tiny flakes of dead plankton and detritus sinking from the surface.

Here's my take on a vampire squid dressed up as Bela Lugosi's version of Dracula.

Here’s the twist: it doesn’t drink blood.

🪸Marine biologist @trondoskars.bsky.social calls iNaturalist the 'Twitter for species' (let us call it Bluesky for species 😆! ) Amateurs post photos + locations of organisms. Researchers and other skilled amateurs then help ID them. The result: verified, open data on #biodiversity.

🤣 sorry, we already went with Confettiella, but I will keep it mind if it's cousins turn up. Cutilucens has a nice ring to it. Taxonomist often give funny names and hide them in latin

Today, on Carl Linnaeus’ birthday, we celebrate the science that names, classifies, and safeguards life.

The Image is Confettiella malaquiasi, a genus and species I had the joy of naming in 2024

#nameittosaveit

If species is named, it is defined and we can guess what it does based on its place in the taxonomic system, and how it fits into an ecosystem.

You can’t conserve “a weird little snail someone once saw.”

But you can conserve a species with a name, a description, and a place in the tree of life.

A name defines us, and it defines species too.

Without a name, a species It will be difficult to study, track, protect, or even discuss properly.

Scientific names allow us to communicate clearly, organize life’s diversity, and understand how species are related.

They hold predictive power.

Taxonomists are the unsung heroes in this tale.

They classify, describe, and help protect life on Earth.

Their work is the foundation for conservation, ecology and scientific progress.

Why does a name matter?

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁.

.

Many marine creatures that give gems a good run for their money 😄

The life you find on a kelp frond. The colony in the middle is the star colony tunicate, Botryllus. Each ray is an individual

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity.

A day to raise awareness of the value of biodiversity, and the urgent need to protect it.

Let’s study it.

Lets' learn.

Let’s not wait until it’s too late.

The image is the diversity on a simple kelp frond.

We actually know very little about the diversity we depend on.

There are an estimated 8–11 million species on Earth.

Less than 15% are named and described.

That means, we don’t know their role in food webs or ecosystems.

We don’t even know what we’re losing, or what it could’ve meant for us.

We rely on biodiversity in more ways than we realize.

Food. Medicines. Ecosystem stability.

We problaby know eveything about something s important?

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁.

It’s the only one we’ve got.

If we don't take care, we have nowhere to go.

Something we need to remember this #earthday .

#biodiversity #ocean

The image is public domain NASA Voyager 1

The reef we found was a Lophelia or Desmophyllum pertusum reef.

The boat we were on was actually called the Lophelia!