A List of my Favorite Articles from November ’14!

Well, November ’14 came and went very quickly, so I thought I’d showcase my top 8 favorite creatures from the past month! There is a link and the common and binomial name of the main creature in the article.

Goodbye, November. (My birthday month! Why did you think I missed it so much?!)

1. The Little Fish who Sports a Fu Manchu and is the Color of Maraschino Juice: The cherry barb (Pungti titteya)

2. LOOK!! It's the Bluebird of Happiness!: The blue chaffinch (Fringilla teydea)

3. The Huge Animals the Size of Peas.: The Gigantocypris ostracods

4. At the End of the Rainbow, there are……Spiders?: The elegant jumping spider (Chrysilla lauta)

5. If you Mix a Bumblebee and a Shrew, this is what you Get…: The lowland streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus)

6. Two-headed Albino Milk Snakes! I want one.: The two-headed albino morph of the familiar milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

7. Meet the Butterflies that Drink out of Eyeballs!: Heliconius butterflies

8. BEHOLD THE WOOLLY PIG!: the Mangalitsa pig (Sus scrofa)

Merry Christmas!

A List of the Scariest Worms Ever

Freaked out by earthworms? Coward. When you see this list of worms, you’ll find them cute and cuddly!

WORM #1

The first worm on our List of Terror is Eunice aphroditois, an annelid worm from the ocean, which has a terribly disturbing way of eatin’. (And cue the Jaws music.) I’ll just leave it for you to see in the .gif below…

WORM #2

Meet the bootlace worm (Lineus longissimus). What’s absolutely foul about this bad boy is the sheer size of it. It can grow to 180 feet (55 meters) long and 3.9 (10 cm) inches wide. (I secretly love them.)

WORM #3

This is probably the worst worm on the list: the heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis). It’s a tiny roundworm which is the smallest worm on the list. Sounds cute, but then, listen to the name—heart + worm. It infects the hearts of dogs, cats, sea lions, foxes, coyotes, wolves, ferrets, and…HUMANS. They are contracted from mosquitoes. Want to see pictures? Warning: Scroll down with caution!

Help…

Bamboo + Fish = the Following

1. Walking bamboo shark (Hemiscyllium halmahera)

An odd new species of Indonesian shark, this rough-skinned fish is adorable and can “walk!” As seen by some .gifs below. It was discovered in 2013.

2. Panda loach (Yaoshania pachychilus)

Panda loaches are uncommon fish that can sometimes be seen in pet stores fetching high prices. I once was walking through a pet shop and saw one for, if I can remember correctly, $98.43! They’re small, manageable, unaggressive, and easy to keep, so it’s no wonder a lot of people want them. The young loaches are a striking ebony black with ivory white splashes, and the adults have a faded, brown color, which is rather depressing if you stop and think about it.

(The picture below has some loaches and some red shrimp. The last picture is of an adult.)

3. Panda nibble fish (Discognathichthys flavatra)

The panda nibble fish is a gray fish with dark chocolate stripes and, in the breeding season, red fins. It’s a lovely addition to a small “nano” aquarium, maybe with a few panda loaches, hint-hint. Below are a few photos.