Chris Mah
@echinoblog
The "starfish guy"(but also a little about a lot of marine invertebrates, #echinoday #echinoderms. Kaiju, comics enthusiast. Marine scientist, taxonomist, deep-sea researcher. Statements/posts made here are my own & DO NOT REPRESENT HOST organizations
Ha ha. In New Caledonia there's a myriad of #deepsea cookie shaped sea stars! #cookiestars #Goniasteridae
A "cookie" star (Goniasteridae) I described in 2018, Sphaeriodiscus biomaglo! from the Indian Ocean! #echinoday This is a deck shot showing off the rich orange coloration!
Cool little #deepsea brittle stars from the Indian Ocean in the genus Amphiophiura (I think?) ha ha. LOVE the disks that look like big stones! #echinoday
I'm sorry to announce that Dr. David Pawson longtime curator of echinoderms at the USNM has passed away www.facebook.com/SIInvertebra...
"Podasterias ochracea" =Pisaster ochraceus fr unexplored San Francisco, Calif. collected in 1876! At this point "Asterias ochracea" was described in 1835 & the genus Pisaster was not described until 1840.The names were only 40ish years old! Haha.EVERYWHERE was newly explored at one time or another!
ha ha. and I always need to show off this Cymothoa exigua-on a clownish! oh noes! NEMO has a tongue parasite! #isopodstoday Image by Yuri Ivanov from Indonesia via FB www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
Years ago I was able to visit a museum with this fantastic model of the Cambrian worm Ottoia! Interpreted to have been an early priapulid worm ("archaeopriapulid") ! They had a lovely model of it! #wormwednesday
One of my favorite "museum notes" This one, while I was visiting the MCZ was with a collection of Antarctic specimens "Stored until someone can identify them" dated "22 August 1969 by DRP" (my visit was Aug 3, 2022) This is pretty common.and all of them were identified! #taxonomytuesday
oh okay. here's more jellyfish plates from whatever book this was! #Taxonomytuesday
4 armed variant of a species of Alloceramaster from New Caledonia, pulling off more of a cross than a box-vibe! #echinoday
Various growth stages of the oreasterid sea star Culcita novaeguineae! Undergoes change from a flat, biscuit shaped star to a huge cushiony thing that looks more like a rock! Growth changes are crazy!
Various unusual sand dollars from a book with elaborate illustrations.. pre 20th Century! Some Clypeaster, Rotula and Astriclypeus or somesuch! #taxonomytuesday
Plates of "ye old" natural history books that make them look more like Cthulhu's relatives that anything else! But-the ophiuroid Trichaster on the left and I think Solaster on the right! #taxonomyTuesday
Ha! #taxonomytuesday some cool old books from the Paris Museum library showing off these elaborate frontispieces-the HAND painted art in these is amazing!
IRIDOGORGIA! the so-called fireworks coral! see by #okeanos in 2017 from the Musicians seamounts on Paganinni seamount at 1765m! #happy4thofjuly
Was sorting a bucket from the tropical Pacific and found this! An aberrant stalked crinoid columnal! from a LIVING species! Not that unusual but very similar in appearance to Paleozoic roadcut fossils! ha ha. #echinoday
A lovely lavender Coelopleurus, from the collections in Paris...so probably in the South Pacific or somesuch! Colors are intrinsic to the skeleton, have not been painted or applied. Naturally amazing! #echinoday
A deck shot of what I think is Eulaglisca from my trip to Antarctica in 2006! Before I knew anything! It was a pretty big scale worm and the proboscis was very impressive! #wormwednesday #worldpolychaeteday
Some delightful green Nereis (?) from San Francisco Bay taken a few years ago when I was visiting colleagues! #wormwednesday #worldpolychaeteDay
#WORLDPOLYCHAETEDAY or #InternationalPolychaeteday honors the birthday of Dr. Kristian Fauchald of the Smithsonian USNM who was among one of the world's experts on polychaete worms! He left behind many students, admirers and scientific papers on worm systematics! Hence this day in his honor!
#worldpolychaeteday! Here's a good friend- Eulagisca gigantea from the Antarctic showing off a smile! Whee! I'd guess predator!
Wow. another Umbelulla sea pen, this one from 5775 meters! #okeanos 2017, the Remote Pacific Islands for #octocoralFriday
A lovely Umbelulla at 1633 m in the Gulf of Mexico from #Okeanos in 2017! Each of the 4 feeding polyps has 8 feeding tentacles #octocoralFriday
#OCTOCORALFRIDAY here's Umbelulla, a #deepsea sea pen from the North Pacific during the #okeanos cruise to the North Pacific in 2023, at 4255 m! Note the lovely 8 pinnate feeding arms!
MOAR brittle star disk patterns. They remind me of pizza! all deep-sea of course! #echinoday
Faces (disks) of brittle stars from the deep-sea! >2000 meters depth! SO MUCH DIVERSITY. The plate patterns just seem to be endlessly ornate! Wonderful beasts! #echinoday
Ha ha. I'm sure this is just me but man, do these Ophioplinthus (?) from 4118 meters in the South Pacific look at AWFUL lot like the "starfish" Pokemon?? #echinoday #ophiuroids