Went into a cannabis-fueled sort of fugue state and painted a whole bunch of South Pacific island environments nonstop for the last two days. I suspect there will be more to come, lol.
The original production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's “South Pacific” premiered on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949. An instant hit starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, “South Pacific” ran for 1,925 performances. #OnThisDay
Nautilus are a large swimming marine molluscs restricted to a handful of species in the family Nautilidae from around the Coral Triangle, a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters located between the Pacific and Indian oceans. They are conformes by two different groups, fuzzy nautilus (Allonautilus) and common nautilus (Nautilus) with nearly eleven species, as researchers have recently added three new nautilus species.
A previous work showed a difference in genomic along different populations, now a international team of researchers combined previous work with image analysis software,using pigmentantion, shape and total shell area of they data set, confirming the presence of three unnamed species, here as Nautilus samoaensis, Nautilus vanuatuensis and Nautilus vitiensis.
According to researchers, nautilid shells implode at depths greater than 800 m and depth therefore acts as a biogeographical barrier separating these species.
-Where all Nautilus species distributed in the Coral Sea and the South Pacific.
According to researchers, all nautiluses are regulated under appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). At the moment, no species of Nautilus or Allonautilus has been formally assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. All they face illegal trade. This study may provides a foundation for managers and other officials to begin to efficiently identify distinct species of nautilus shells that may come through as trade products.
Photo: Underwater photos of living Nautilus new species A, B Nautilus samoaensis C Nautilus vanuatuensis and D Nautilus vitiensis.
Reference (Open Access): Barord et al. 2023. Three new species of Nautilus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) from the Coral Sea and South Pacific. ZooKeys.
Exciting new findings reveal the oldest city found on a Pacific Island, constructed around 300 AD in Tonga. Thanks to advanced LiDAR scanning, researchers from the Australian National University have mapped the remains of this 1,700-year-old city in Tongatapu, uncovering fascinating details about ancient urban life way before European contact.
Little File Snake aka Little Wart Snake (Acrochordus granulatus), juvenile, family Acrochordidae, found in SE Asia, New Guinea, South Pacific Islands, and northern Australia