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Jess Marsh

@jessmarsh.bsky.social

Researcher Adelaide Uni. Arachnology, taxonomy, conservation. Caves + cave biodiversity. Mum, hiker, ally. She / her. Co-founder Invertebrates Australia, Councillor Biodiversity Council, Co-chair IUCN Australia Species Specialist Group.

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Rebecca R Helm@rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · last yr.

Scientists first collected a pig butt worm from the dark ocean depths near Monterey, California. The size of marbles, pigbutts are a near complete mystery. Officially described in 2007, scientists aren’t even sure if the pigbutt form is an adult, or just a very very awkward adolescent stage.

A very pig butt looking round marble like animal that is pink. Photo by MBARI.The “front” of a pig butt worm showing tentacles and a round body. Image by MBARI.The bottom of a pig butt worm showing it’s odd bilateral butt cheeks. Images by MBARI
Jess Marsh@jessmarsh.bsky.social · last yr.

Invertebrate species of the year, for the WHOLE world 🌍 … I know which species I’d choose. It has the name, it has the looks, it has the on-the-brink-of-extinction need for awareness… (Come on little #kangarooIslandAssassinSpider 🕷️💪)

Nominate your invertebrate species of the year

We’re asking readers from around the world to nominate their favourite spineless species for our second Invertebrate of the Year competition

theguardian.com

Tom Astle@tjalamont.bsky.social · 2y ago

One more for the Year of the Snake, plus #TBT. It's one of my favorite photos I've ever taken, from ten years ago in Borneo, a gorgeous little snake called an eight-striped kukri (Oligodon octolineatus). I have a large print of it on my home office wall and it makes me happy to see every day. 🐙 📷 🐍

A photo looking down at a colorful snake coiled up atop a palm-like plant frond. The snake is coiled in the upper third of the frame in a flat circle, and has a bright orange dorsal stripe and white side stripes against a glossy dark brown background. The snake's curled shape contrasts with the straight central rib of the plant (running diagonally up from the lower left) and its also-straight, perpendicular frond branches.
Tom Astle@tjalamont.bsky.social · last yr.

One more from my Borneo archives, because frankly, living in the past seems like a good idea right now. See the grasshopper? Look for the "holes" in the leaf - they're actually solid but transparent exoskeleton. I've shared this before elsewhere, but I don't think here. Even if, worth a re-post. 🐙🌿📷

A photo of what at first looks like a pile of dead brown leaves, but upon closer inspection is a pile of dead brown leaves and a grasshopper that is astonishingly camouflaged as a dead brown leaf. Its body is flattened with a crest to create the leaf shape; the end of the wings even has a projection that looks like the leaf stem. The abdomen tip curls up to meet it to help the deception. The grasshopper has markings that look like leaf veins, and a couple of what look like rotted holes in a leaf, but which are actually clear spots in the exoskeleton to create this illusion.
Jess Marsh@jessmarsh.bsky.social · 2y ago

Unknown to me, a school student chose to write a poem on one of the species that I have fought to conserve. Convincing people that spiders are worthy of conservation often feels an uphill battle. This feels a little bit like a win 🥹💙 #australia #arachnids #biodiversity #poetry

Kangaroo Island Assassin Spider

Australian poems by Australian poets are at the heart of Red Room Poetry an organisation devoted to creating, publishing and promoting the reading and writing of great new work.

redroompoetry.org

Shahan Derkarabetian@sderkarabetian.bsky.social · 2y ago

Opilioacarida! Mites that kind of look like Opiliones (hence the name). Found all over tropical and subtropical habitats worldwide, poorly studied. These were the first I've ever seen alive! From south of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. This is Neocarus bajacalifornicus.

A macro photo of a small mite, facing right. The body color is light grey. Its front pair of legs are elongate and pointing forward like antennae. It is walking on a rock.