White Coral

Ramariopsis kunzei

Wouldn't it be odd to stumble upon a glistening white coral as you wander through the woods? As if, just before you got there, the whole forest was a tropical reef and you discovered one of the stragglers left behind by the change.

Uropyia meticulodina. Best camouflage, ever.

Image: Bettaman via Flickr
Uropyia meticulodina

It's a moth called Uropyia meticulodina! But it has such incredibly incredible camouflage that even when you know its a moth, you still can't quite believe it's just a moth.

Flying Gurnard

Image: laszlo-photo via Flickr

The word "gurnard" comes from the Old French for "grunt". So I guess a Flying Gurnard is some sort of high level ventriloquism skill?

Anchor Worm, Lernaeolophus

Image: Wikipedia
Lernaeolophus sultanus
Lines are 1 mm apart

Fantasia got it all wrong - THIS is what really happens when you mix a neuron with a mop! It won't wander around picking up dust either. I'm afraid it would rather drink your blood. There. I said it.

Cauliflower Jellyfish, Cephea

Image: Derek Keats via Flickr

Crazy looking jellyfish! Part cauliflower, part whole bunch of other stuff.

Sea Elephant

Image: Roger R. Seapy
Pterotrachea coronata

I don't know about you, but for me the only possible response here is "?!"

The Leggy Blonde Is So Weird!

Image: Paul Marek et al.
Illacme plenipes

Do you remember Illacme plenipes, that tiny, 3 cm (1.2 in) long millipede that, with its 750 legs, was the leggiest animal in all the world? Well, turns out it's weird in more ways than 750!

King Ragworm

Image: Alexander Semenov
Alitta virens / Nereis virens

King Ragworm! It sounds like one of Fagin's street-names but it really is a worm!

Springtail

Image: Tim Evison

BOING! No, really.

Prickly Dogfish

Image: New Zealand-American Submarine Ring of Fire 2005 Exploration, NOAA Vents Program
Oxynotus bruniensis

We usually think of sharks as streamlined killers, stalking the ocean in search of their next victim before racing toward them with immense speed and big, toothy jaws.

We don't normally think of them as triangles.

Harp Sponge

Image: MBARI
Chondrocladia lyra

Isn't it lovely? Among all the gnashing teeth and wobbling flab of the deep sea is a beautiful harp! A beautiful, meat-eating harp.

Marine Iguana

Image: lgooch via Flickr
Amblyrhynchus cristatus

Just imagine. There you are in warm, equatorial South America, munching on your luscious greens as you rest in the hot, moist air. A storm wanders by. It picks up the very branches on which you sit and casts them into the sea. You drift on your accidental raft for a long time, not knowing if you'll ever see land again.

Cyclosa and the Bridge of the Dead

Image: opencage.info

Cyclosa octotuberculata is a small, spiky spider with a nasty, nasty habit.