'Man O War'
(Natural History Episode 24)
In this special installment of our Natural History film series, Geologist (of Animal Collective) soundtracks a macroscopic view of a Portuguese man-o-war’s beautiful, yet highly venomous tentacles.
The man-o-war is often mistaken as a jellyfish, but this is not the case. It does not swim, but is instead propelled by the winds, tides and currents across the ocean’s surface. In fact, a man-o-war is not even…
'Man O War'
(Natural History Episode 24)
In this special installment of our Natural History film series, Geologist (of Animal Collective) soundtracks a macroscopic view of a Portuguese man-o-war’s beautiful, yet highly venomous tentacles.
The man-o-war is often mistaken as a jellyfish, but this is not the case. It does not swim, but is instead propelled by the winds, tides and currents across the ocean’s surface. In fact, a man-o-war is not even…
'The Squat Urchin Shrimp'
(Natural History Episode 23)
The Squat Urchin Shrimp (Gnathophylloides mineri) is an amazingly successful creature that can be found living amongst the spines of sea urchins throughout most of the world's shallow tropical waters. In the Caribbean they hitchhike exclusively upon the black and white West Indian Sea Egg (Tripneustes ventricosus), traveling along wherever its host may go. The squat urchin shrimp is very small,…
'The Heart Urchin Pea Crab'
(Natural History Episode 22)
Barely 7mm in size, the aptly named heart urchin pea crab (Dissodactylus primitivus) lives its entire life as a passenger upon the slow-moving red heart urchin (Meoma ventricosa). It is an example of the unusual life that can be found by looking in unexpected places on Floridian coral reefs. The red heart urchin is an unusual member of the echinoderm clan (e.g. urchins, sea stars, sand…
'Cleaner' Pt. 3
(Natural History Episode 21)
The sun anemone shrimp (Periclimenes rathbunae) is the least common of the three species of Floridian anemone shrimp. While the other two anemone shrimp (P. pedersoni and P. yucatanicus) act as cleaners to passing fish, the sun anemone shrimp doesn't seem to engage in this behavior. Instead, it spends its time living almost exclusively upon its namesake sun anemone (Stichodactyla helianthus). Aquarium…
'The Porcelain Crab'
(Natural History Episode 20)
The porcelain crab's common name is derived from its propensity to drop claws like a fragile tea cup breaking. When attacked, the would-be predator is usually left with nothing more than a few amputated (and still-twitching) limbs. In a few days the porcelain crab will undergo an 'emergency molt' of its exoskeleton and begin regenerating its lost appendages.
Film, Aquarium + Original Soundtrack:
MORPHOLOGIC
2010
See…
'Transmission'
(Natural History Episode 19)
The tiger flatworm (Pseudoceros crozieri) is a stunning species of flatworm that can be found living on rocks and mangrove roots along the shores of the Caribbean. Colonial orange tunicates (Ecteinascidia turbinata) constitute the tiger flatworm's only food-source. At 35mm in length, it is considerably larger than the previously featured red flatworms. As simultaneous hermaphrodites, the tiger flatworm…
'The Lettuce Slug'
(Natural History Episode 18)
Lettuce sea slugs (Elysia crispata) are a commonly found in protected nearshore Floridian waters where green macroalgae proliferates. They belong to a clan of sea slugs, the sarcoglossans, that are characterized by their 'sap-sucking' feeding habits of algae. These slugs slowly patrol mangrove roots and rocks searching for green algae upon which they feed. They store some of the chloroplasts from…
'Flatworms'
(Natural History Episode 17)
The flatworms (Convolutriloba retrogemma) featured in the video are shown at 3x normal speed. They each range from 2-4mm in total length.
These particular flatworms harbor symbiotic zooxanthellae in their thin tissue and utilize the excess sugars they create as their primary energy source. Packets of zooxanthellae can be seen as the tiny, red-brown dots along the back of flatworm. Their reliance upon…
beautiful. It is natural inspiration like this that first propelled me into film making. It is great to see you making these worlds available to people. Thank you. Rachael Patching
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