What’s everyone’s favorite animal. My top 3: 1. Crab 🦀 2. Crab again 🦀 3. Crab again again 🦀
Megan McCuller, ectoproctologist
@mccullermi.bsky.social
not a butt doctor for ghosts | taxonomist specializing in phylum Bryozoa (moss animals), which used to be phylum Ectoprocta | general lover of marine invertebrates
I took a nautical archaeology course as an undergrad and the prof told us a story about a wreck diver who was on a deep dive. From out of nowhere it hit him how his life was dependent on his dive gear- he finished the dive and never dove again. I think about this story occasionally
Normally this would not apply to me. The last two days, however…
Get some rest. Tomorrow you have a lot of people to make sorry they dared to cross you.
ok y'all need to come check out the Spiders: from Fear to Fascination exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences because it is so informative and includes a lot of interactive displays. @bwwilliams.bsky.social and I had a blast previewing it today ahead of its opening on Saturday!
ok y'all need to come check out the Spiders: from Fear to Fascination exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences because it is so informative and includes a lot of interactive displays. @bwwilliams.bsky.social and I had a blast previewing it today ahead of its opening on Saturday!
Behold this 102-year-old adorably furry Orange Jumper (I think 😬) InverteButt from the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Collection. Collected in Raleigh, North Carolina, September 1921, by C.S. Brimley.
Today is @maureenbug.bsky.social's birthday, alternatively known as International InverteButt Day. Post your best invertebrate butt content.
Q- How many undescribed crayfish species can we find in 1 day in an area in western North Carolina 22 miles long x 4 miles wide? A- At least five, plus one with a name. 😑 We have our work cut out for us! One small miracle: the branchiobdellidans shown here ARE known (Xironodrilus bashaviae) 😮💨
i’m very jealous of the fact that megan has MULTIPLE images of herself cradling different preserved giant isopods for potential profile photo usage (she had a different image of herself doing this as her twitter pfp for a while)
here's our larger giant isopod, which just got its ethanol changed after taking this photo 😅 (new pfp of me holding it like a baby for scale)
here's our larger giant isopod, which just got its ethanol changed after taking this photo 😅 (new pfp of me holding it like a baby for scale)
I haven't seen a single giant isopod on the skyline for weeks. Let's fix that. Lego fishy for scale. 🧪
THIS is custom-fit protective wear! A Granulate Shellback Crab (Hypochonca arcuata) collected 28 July 2004 off Usina Beach, Jacksonville, FL by SEAMAP biologists. The functional form-fit shell even comes with its own bling: bryozoans, a tiny anemone, worm tubes, and traces of barnacle.
eyyyy, Bronwyn is here now! go follow her at @bwwilliams.bsky.social if you want some sweet sweet invertebrate content!
a friend shared this with me ingest of the brine y'all
Weird 90s Commercials: Prawn God
The original Prawn God commercial from 1996. Prawn God reissue available here: https://obviousplant.com/ Ripped from VHS with help from @skycorphomevideo
youtu.be
I could watch conference talks or I could... watch Good Burger
multiple packages delivered but first I had to: * figure out what building pkgs were delivered to * who received them * who has them * coordinate getting them to the museum * coordinate getting them to me at an off-site facility I've only got 1 in hand so far 🥴 can you tell I'm a state employee
Y'ALL MY NEW STEROMICROSCOPE HAS SHIPPED
that's my emotional support comically large thumb tack
Y'ALL MY NEW STEROMICROSCOPE HAS SHIPPED
dried sponges and sea stars? in an old Cuban cigar box hidden behind an old thermal printer in MY office? it's more likely than you think
dried sponges and sea stars? in an old Cuban cigar box hidden behind an old thermal printer in MY office? it's more likely than you think
jumping spider photogrammetry in progress! I've created a model of this particular spider but it's missing details on the underside so I'm getting better photos of it upside down to try and fill in the gaps
well it finally happened I dropped a vial of amphipods on the floor 😭 luckily I only had to pick up about 15 of them and not like, 200
I'm in one of those phases where it seems like I have nothing to post about, but here's a rat snake from my walk yesterday
You guys you guys YOU GUYS it’s happening again! BIG BOAT STUCK!
ok on the one hand I think it's insane to have people submit presentations 2 weeks before the conference but on the other hand wow it's pretty nice that I'm not having to worry about it for another 2 weeks
thread in which i realize that: A) megan has never played SimAnt B) you can play SimAnt in your browser now: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/simant-197
all is quiet in antlion alley... or so it seems...