#spotted sunfish

[antiqueanimals]

Florida Wildlife; vol. 11, no. 3. August, 1957. Illustration by Wallace Hughes.

Internet Archive

[thenativetank]

Just a few pics of the Bluies from today!

[stitchy-face]

✨️Fishy Pronoun Pins 2✨️

Coming this Friday, my collection of fish Pronouns pins has expanded! (With a restock of Manta Ray They)

So excited to round out the group, which one is your favorite? 🐠

(Begin ID: On a blue Marque board are 9 wooden pins with different sea animals on them. She/Her Oarfish, He/Him Sunfish, They/Them Manta Ray, Xe/Xem Sailfish, She/Her Leafy Seadragon, He/They Ribbon Eel, It/Its cuttlefish, No Pronouns Blue Spotted Stingray, and No Pronouns Moonfish. End ID.)

[warriors-rewritten-chaos]

Detailed Plot Summary- Fire and Ice Part 1

Book 2, here we go!

In the prologue, a group of unknown cats meet in the forest to discuss plans for the future. Suddenly, a cat comes from the bushes, but he’s not looking for a fight. Instead, he offers his assistance with their plight, albeit in exchange for a few “favors”...

The book proper begins with Fireheart and Graystripe a few days after they became Warriors attending a Gathering. Bluestar, Nightpelt (who was named Leader of ShadowClan after the previous book’s events but has yet to obtain his lives), and Stormstar agree that WindClan must be brought back to retain the balance of the Clans as their ancestors were commanded by StarClan (there have always been five four Clans, and there always will be). None of this “we don’t wanna help ‘cause we wanted to hunt in their territory” bull that canon pulls.

Anyway, Bluestar and Stormstar gather up a group of six Warriors to go find WindClan, three from each Clan: Fireheart, Graystripe, and Dustpelt from ThunderClan and Whitefoot, Smallsplash, and Stonefur from RiverClan. While Nightpelt and ShadowClan do want to help as well, dethroning Brokenstar caused enough issues and major injuries that sending Warriors away would be very detrimental to the Clan’s survival (and also WindClan might not react so well to being approached by ShadowClan again just after being driven off by them). The six go on their way together, and actually end up bonding a bit despite some original hostilities. Fireheart notices that Stonefur sort of reminds him of someone familiar, both in appearance and personality (it’s Bluestar. Let’s not beat around the bush here).

When the patrol finally finds WindClan, they aren't doing so hot: cats are starving, sick, or have infected wounds that they can’t treat because there are no herbs available to them. The group convinces Tallstar to bring his Clan home. Tallstar asks Fireheart if he knows a kittypet named Jake, as he looks a lot like him. When he confirms that Jake is his father, Tallstar asks how he's doing, saying the two were friends at one time (they were boyfriends but he isn't too open with that). Unfortunately, Fireheart only interacted his father when he was a young kit and lost contact with either of his parents and most of his siblings bar Princess after he was taken to his new home. Tallstar treats Fireheart much like a son after this, which he feels happy about. Fireheart also befriends a Warrior named Onewhisker, and the two bond over their unusual names. He also helps carry one of Morningflower’s kits, Gorsekit, as the group travels.

On the way back, Fireheart and Graystripe convince the others to stop by the farm for the night. There, they see Barley Junior, meet Barley Senior for the first time, and see a face they thought they’d never see again. Ravenpaw is still alive, and is now living at the farm! Dustpelt is especially overjoyed to finally see his brother again. The four catch up, and while Dustpelt pleads with his brother to come home to ThunderClan with him Ravenpaw refuses for reasons they don't explain to Dustpelt. He does tell Graystripe and Fireheart what really happened the time of his disappearance in secret: Tigerclaw became more and more paranoid that his apprentice had told someone about his murder of Redtail, and decided to prevent Ravenpaw from ever telling by killing them. Ravenpaw managed to get away and fled to the one place he knew Tigerclaw wouldn't willingly go.

In the morning, the wild cats leave the barn with a tearful goodbye from Ravenpaw to his brother and best friends. But still they press on, with WindClan regaining their old territory at long last. Before they part, Tallstar promises Fireheart a favor, and WindClan’s Medicine Cat Barkface gives the ThunderClan and RiverClan cats a serious warning that he received from StarClan concerning them: before the moon is over, there will be an unnecessary death that occurs between the two Clans. With that forboding warning, the group is on their way home. The RiverClan patrol allows Dustpelt, Fireheart, and Graystripe to take a shortcut through their territory on the way home.

Once they return home, the three are given a happy welcome home from (most of) their Clan. And a few days later, Bluestar calls Sandstorm, Graystripe, Dustpelt, Fireheart, Longtail, Quietwhisper, and Mousefur up to the Highrock and declares the assembled Warriors ready for apprentices of their own to mentor. Sandstorm receives Brightpaw, Graystripe gets Brackenpaw, Dustpelt is given Thornpaw, Mousefur receives Lynxpaw, Longtail gets Swiftpaw, Quietwhisper gets Fogpaw, and Fireheart gets Cinderpaw. Fireheart is bursting with pride and a bit of worry at this, but ultimately is delighted at getting an apprentice of his very own. But of course the peace doesn't last and Barkface’s prophecy soon comes to pass.

A battle occurs over Sunningrocks yet again, with a ThunderClan patrol headed by Tigerclaw “accidentally” trespassing in front of a RiverClan patrol already there. Brackenpaw is attacked by Whitefoot in the ensuing battle and in an effort to defend his apprentice Graystripe takes on the RiverClan Warrior himself. Due to the treacherous terrain, Whitefoot ends up plunging off of the side of a cliff to his demise in the waters below despite Graystripe's best efforts to save him once he realized what was happening. Graystripe is horrified; while he and Whitefoot never became friends on the journey to rescue WindClan the way Fireheart and Onewhisker had, he didn't dislike the prickly tom either. Leopardfur notices what’s happened as well, and the normally cold molly explodes into a murderous rage and tries to physically force him off of the cliff as well. Fireheart and Sandstorm run to stop Graystripe from suffering Whitefoot’s fate and while the three manage to drive Leopardfur back, Sandstorm falls over the edge. She is caught by Fireheart, though, and he and Graystripe succeed in pulling her back up. ThunderClan beats RiverClan back and takes control of Sunningrocks once again.

The death sours relations between ThunderClan and RiverClan even more than they already were. But Fireheart doesn't have the time to dwell on it. How can he, when he has an apprentice? Cinderpaw is enthusiastic and involved about her training, and Fireheart finds her enthusiasm contagious. He learns from her just as much as she learns from him. The two often train alongside Graystripe and Brackenpaw. One day, the group goes to Sunningrocks to teach the apprentices to better fight on rocky terrain and avoid snakes and Graystripe falls into the water while showing off and begins drowning due to not being able to swim. A RiverClan Warrior comes running from the other side of the border in response to the panicked yowls and splashing and dives into the water. The Warrior somehow manages to get Graystripe out of the water by lifting him out from below (a feat considering her smaller size). The ThunderClan cats thank her profusely, while Graystripe is completely lovestruck and not-so-subtly hits on her. She introduces herself as Silverstream before she leaves (after flirting back at Graystripe). Fireheart is jealous of this.

Graystripe begins sneaking out of camp and meeting with Silverstream, neglecting his Warrior duties and mentoring of Brackenpaw, and when Fireheart catches the two of them together Graystripe tells him that they are in love. Fireheart is upset by this (even more than he probably should be. hmmmmm) and tells them they need to stop seeing each other, but they both refuse. When Silverstream leaves, Fireheart reflects on how he feels jealous of her for stealing his crush best friend from him.

When leaf-bare comes, the Clan sees an outbreak of whitecough that sickens multiple cats. Thankfully, only two cats end up dying from the illness. Unfortunately, those cats are Fogpaw, whose death sends his mother and two surviving sisters careening back into grief, and Tulipkit, whose death similarly affects Brindleface. Fireheart does his best to comfort his apprentice. Days later, Darkstripe comes back into camp after going on patrol and requests that Bluestar come see Tigerclaw, as he has discovered evidence of stolen prey. However, Bluestar has just come down with greencough and must remain in quarantine as mandated by Yellowfang. Cinderpaw offers to do it, and Fireheart allows it as long as he comes along. However, he gets wrapped up in helping collect catmint with Spottedleaf to treat the sick cats and Cinderpaw sneaks out on her own to do it herself.

Meanwhile, Fireheart and Spottedleaf discuss issues with Tigerclaw. Fireheart confirms to her that Tigerclaw was responsible for Redtail’s death, and she remains eerily calm the whole time. He asks if she’s okay, to which she responds that if she doesn't keep her anger buried she is going to commit a murder, and that this kind of thing is something she’s used to. Fireheart distracts her by talking about the recent attack on RiverClan, which Tigerclaw seemed to have incited. Fireheart and Spottedleaf are snapped out of their theorizing and comparing of evidence by the scent of fresh cat blood nearby and pained sobs. They run to the source, the nearby Thunderpath, and discover a severely injured Cinderpaw. She was hit by a passing Monster and her leg appears to be broken in several places. They drop the catmint and rush her to Yellowfang for emergency treatment. She is quickly stabilized, but the question of whether or not her leg will heal is still up in the air.

Meanwhile, Fireheart makes the risky decision to leave ThunderClan territory to gather much-needed herbs (most of the gathered catmint was lost in the panic of transporting Cinderpaw back to camp). He reunites with Smudge, who barely recognizes him, but apologizes for what he said to Fireheart before he left to join the Clan. They talk about old times, but much to their dismay they no longer have much in common and their friendship isn’t what it used to be. Smudge tells Fireheart that Princess recently had a litter of kits and that he should go to her house to meet them. On his way to see Princess, he encounters Pinecone, Ferris, Pollyanna, and Xena out for a walk. Like Smudge, the four of them are happy to see him again, with Pinecone and Ferris taking interest in what Clan he joined. When he tells them he joined ThunderClan, they both begin pressing him with questions. This reminds Fireheart that both of them have a past with the Clans.

When Fireheart gets to Princess’ house, she is overjoyed to see him again and introduces him to her five kits: Zack, Taylor, Livvy, Nami, and Cloudy. He tells her and the kits stories about Clan life (leaving out the scary bits for the kits’ sake). While doing this, he is reminded of his father Jake doing the same when he was a kit and misses his parents. Before he leaves, Princess asks him if he is willing to do something for her. When Fireheart responds in affirmation, she asks if he will take Cloudy with him to join ThunderClan. He tries to dissuade her, telling her that the Clan might not want him, but she keeps insisting and so he does. 

[aquariuminfobureau]

Sunshine for the cooler water aquarium

Enneacanthus gloriosus, the blue-spotted sunfish, is not related to the pelagic molid sinfishes, but is part of a Nearctic clade also named sunfishes, the centrarchids. Its length approaches 10 centimeters, or 4 inches, whereas other centrarchids species may be much larger. The maximum size of E. gloriosus, it should be noted, seems to vary between wild populations, being only 6 centimeters, or less than 2 and a 1/2 inches, in the Mississippi. This sunfish is native to the Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages of North America, from New York State and Pennsylvania, to the south of Florida. Within this range, E. glorious is found mainly in richly vegetated oxbows and side ponds, the presence of vegetation being imperative for E. glorious to forage food. More broadly the species is found in other freshwater habitats, with sandy or muddy bottoms, and vegetation, such as Elodea, Crinum, Sagittarius, and Myriophyllum. Such habitats may be darkly stained and turbid. E. gloriosus feeds primarily on copepods, cladocerans, ostracods, and chironomid fly larvae.

E. gloriosus can experience high summer tempertures over parts of its range, as high as 29 or 30 degrees centigrade, though 23 to 27 degrees is probably a closer estimate, of the optimum for their aquarium welfare. Naturally, being native to seasonal climates, the winters are much cooler, and a winter season might be simulated for these animals, by dropping the temperature down to 10 degrees, or a little less, without which they will not breed. The range of pH preferred by E. gloriosus in the wild, is reported to be 4 to 7, or acidic to neutral. Most populations probably come from waters, with a pH of 5.6 to 6.5. Certainly, Enneacanthus sp. exhibit reduced growth when breeding in water below a pH of 4.5, and in any case, it is difficult for the aquarist to maintain a stable aquarium environment, with a pH below 5. In the aquarium, these are peaceful fishes, that should not be housed with aggressive species. They should be fed on defrosted foods, that are appropriate to their wild diet.

[weabooii]

Sleep a Way Out!

Thoughts/ some explanations below the cut

It's a little disappointing to me that even though Zero abducts everyone in 999 at night, none of them seem to be in their pj's. So this is what I imagine their pj's (or in some cases, clothes worn around the house) would look like.

(left to right)

Ace's boxer fit is purely vibes based. He just seems like that kinda guy.

Lotus: I tried to bring some of her girl boss energy into her pj's. I imagine she wraps her hair in silk so it doesn't get messed up at night.

Clover just seems like she would chill in an oversized cutesy onesie.

Snake: My historical fashion obsession rears its head. He's wearing a Banyan, which is a European gown/lounge wear from the 1700s based on the Kimono and possibly other Indian robes if I recall correctly. The flower on its sleeve is a Chinese Lantern plant. He's holding a chamber candle stick as well. His cap is just based on stereotypical goofy historical pjs, just for fun.

Junpei: I couldn't bring myself to remove what I saw as some of the most iconic parts of Junpei's original design so I just remixed them. Instead of a flannel shirt he's wearing flannel pajama pants and instead of "bisexual sneakers" he's wearing one bisexual slipper (the other one got lost). I was originally intending to give him a generic college or baseball tee but while I was replaying through Ai the Somnium files I spotted the 999 reference by Sunfish Pocket and thought it would be fun to give him an old Lemniscate shirt instead.

June: She has to be wearing purple. Her fashion sense seems to be very natural, with a lot of knitting and textile ornamentation which lead me to think she'd probably wear a nice, simple cotton nightgown. And the bunny slippers are a little nod to her backstory.

Santa: You know, I just get the impression that Santa sleeps in the same clothes he wears in the game. And with a build like that he's definitely getting enough sun to have some embarrassing tan-lines.

Seven: Again, kinda like Santa, I get the feeling his pajamas could be the same clothes he wears in the game. But the shower sandals are a must.

Guy 9: There just wasn't enough for me to go off of for him. So I deleted him :) Sorry. He blew up.

[a-book-of-creatures]

Do you have a favourite fish species? :0

Noooo how am I supposed to pick one? ;_; I know what, I'll pick some favorites off the top of my head

Oceanic whitetip shark

Frogfish

Oceanic sunfish

Viperfish

Leafy seadragon

Spotted eagle ray

Hippocampus bargibanti

Mudskipper

Sawfish

... actually this is going to take forever... fishes are awesome...

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: ocean sunfish

Everybody knows ocean sunfish, right? Those giant, slow, silly-looking, parasite-ridden morons that eat jellyfish and can't defend themselves from predators really are the worst fish right?

(GIF: Lex Luthor screaming "WRONG!" from the movie Superman Returns)

First of all there's no such thing as a "best" or "worst" animal and judging animals by human standards of what is cool or successful is silly because our standards are not even universal among humans, let along other species. Secondly, the closest thing we have to a way to judge a species is how successful it is in its niche and sunfish are doing pretty good, thank you very much. Today I'll be talking about sunfish and how they are not bad fish at all.

(Image: a Mola mola located near the surface of the ocean, with the tip of its dorsal fin and part of its head breaching the surface. It is a round fish with no tail, only a wrinkly region of its body. Its dorsal and anal fins are long and slender The eyes and mouth are proportionately small. It is a pale white with light grey spots. A SCUBA diver is visible in the background. End ID)

Ocean sunfish, or molas, are members of the family Molidae, which is divided into five known species across three genuses. Im mostly going to be talking about members of the genus Mola, but I'll mention the other two as well. Molas are known for their size and odd appearances, looking like someone chopped a fish in half and the front half went swimming off on its own. They are members of the order Tetraodontiformes, making them cousins to pufferfish, triggerfish, boxfish, and others. While many members of that order are known to be highly poisonous, molas are not. They also lack several other common traits. Despite being bony fish, most of the mola skeleton is made of cartilage and they do not have swim bladders, forcing them to actively swim to maintain their position in the water column. Instead of a tail and caudal fin, sunfish have a structure called the clavus. The clavus is formed mostly from connective tissue and is used as a rudder. Because the clavus is mostly made of connective tissue, damage to it is not particularly harmful to the fish. There have been molas found alive and well that have had portions of their clavus eaten by predators. Because of their shortened stature, molas have the fewest vertebrae of all fish. The dorsal and anal fins are elongated and are used to provide propulsion by flapping back and fourth similarly to how birds wings move, albeit slower. Minute alterations in the angle each fin moves through the water help with steering, while more sharp turns are aided with jets of water ejected through the mouth and gills. Like their other Tetraodintid relatives, mola teeth are fused together into a beak-like structure that prevents them from closing their mouths. They also have some more regular pharyngeal teeth in the backs of their mouths. Some reports say that the fish can make noises by grinding the pharyngeal teeth together. Mola skin is thick and rough, described as being similar to sandpaper in texture. Like most fish, the skin is covered in a layer of protective mucus.

(Image: a mola sunbathing. It is positioned with one side of its body facing the surface. Its body is just under the water's surface. End ID)

The three species in the genus Mola are Mola mola, the ocean sunfish and most well-known of the molas, Mola alexandrini, the giant, southern, or bumphead mola, and Mola tecta, the hoodwinker sunfish. Mola mola has an average weight of 247 to 1000 kg (545 to 2205 lbs), mouth to clavus length of 1.8 m (5.9 ft) and dorsal to anal fin length of 2.5 m (8.2 ft), though some individuals can get much large. The largest individual on record had a length of 3.3 m (10.8 ft), height of 3.2 m (10.5 ft) and weighed 2300 kg (5100 lbs). M. alexandrini is the largest of the species. The largest known southern sunfish measured in at 2744 kg (6049 lbs) and 3.25 m (10.66 ft) from mouth to clavus, making it the largest known bony fish in the world. They can be distinguished from M. mola by the presence of bumps on the forehead and chin, a more rounded clavus, and differently-shaped scales. M. tecta is known as the hoodwinker sunfish because it was long mistaken for one of the other two species and was only identified as a separate species in 2015 after the body of one washed up in Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand and was examined by scientists. Because it has only recently been discovered, little is known about this species. They appear to have the same range of sizes and weights of the other two species and can be distinguished by a slimmer body shape and a smooth clavus. All three species are found in tropical and temperate waters worldwide, though M. alexandrini and M. tecta are more commonly found in the southern hemisphere.

(Image: a Mola alexandrini underwater. It is distinguishable from Mola mola by the two bumps above and below its facial region, making it look lumpy. It is surrounded by striped cleaner fish. A SCUBA diver is in the background. End ID)

(Image: a Mola tecta seen from the side. It is smoother than the other two species. More of its body is grey with white spots. End ID)

Molas are open-ocean dwellers that live life in the slow lane. For a long time, it was believed they were moved around by ocean currents they could not swim against, making them plankton. We now know they not only can swim against the current, they are capable of bursts of speed fast enough to breach the water's surface and briefly go airborne. Sunfish are named for their habit of basking at the surface of the water. It was formerly believed they spent most of their time at the surface, but thanks to tagging, we know they make frequent dives into the deep ocean. They likely bask at the surface to warm up between dives. You may not expect something as slow as a sunfish to be a predator, but they are. Much of their diet consists of gelatinous animals including jellyfish, siphonophores, ctenophores, and salps, though they will also eat small fish, fish larvae, squids, crustaceans, and even seagrass. Because they can't chew, sunfish move prey into and out of their mouth by rapidly switching between sucking water in and spitting it out in order to shred the prey into pieces small enough to swallow. Special mucus lining the digestive system may protect the molas from the stinging tentacles of their prey. Molas and other jellyfish-eaters like the leatherback sea turtle play an important role in the ecosystem by keeping jellyfish populations down. Jellyfish are not particularly nutritious, so the sunfish need to eat a lot of them to survive, something they seem to be pretty good at. Being slow and having a very low-energy lifestyle helps the fish survive on a less-nutritious diet, making them very energy efficient. One thing molas get a lot of flack for online is having lots of parasites (with up to 40 known species). This doesn't really make sense. Every species has parasites. An animal in the wild that doesn't have parasites is vanishingly rare. Having parasites doesn't make an animal suck, it makes them ordinary. Because of their parasite load, molas are frequent visitors to cleaner fish, who will eat their parasites. Molas will also let seabirds land on them and eat their parasites while they rest on the surface. The molas attract birds by splashing at the surface. Adult molas have few natural predators, but are hunted by sharks, sea lions, and orcas. Interestingly, sea lions have been known to kill molas apparently for sport, ripping off the fins and then leaving the mola to die.

(Image: a mola seen from the front. Multiple smaller fish are picking parasites off of its skin. End ID)

Molas are broadcast spawners who release their gametes into the water alongside each other. A female mola can release 300 million eggs at a time, more than any other vertebrate. Newly hatched sunfish are 2.5 millimeters long and are often cited as having the largest discrepancy in size between juvenile and adult of any vertebrate. An adult mola can be 60 millions times the weight of a larva. The larvae look very different than adult, lacking their dorsal and anal fins but having pufferfish-like spines. Juveniles school together for protection and become solitary as they age. The diet of the fish varies as they age, with younger fish feeding more on squid, worms, crustaceans, and fish but becoming more reliant on jellyfish and other gelatinous prey as they age. We don't know the growth rate of molas, but a juvenile in the Monterey Bay Aquarium grew from 26 to 339 kg (57 to 880 lbs) in 15 months, suggesting they grow rapidly. The maximum age of molas is unknown, though individuals in captivity have lives for up to 10 years.

(Image: a mola larva. It is a brown ball with large, black eyes and no visible fins. It is covered in transparent, conical spines. End ID)

The two non-Mola sunfish are Ranzania laevis, the slender sunfish and Masturus lanceolatus, the sharptail sunfish. Both are alone in the genuses, but other species are suspected. I also found references to other species in Masturus, but could find literally no information about them other than that Masturus oxyuropterus is listed in some records. The sharptail sunfish looks very similar to Mola mola and reaches similar sizes, but its clavus has an extension that looks like a short tail. They were initially believed to be deformed molas before being recognized as a separate species. Unlike molas, sharptail sunfish are rarely seen at the surface, preferring to stay in deeper water. The slender sunfish is the smallest of the family, reaching up to a meter long. While we don't know much about them, we know their diet includes a lot of fast-moving squid, indicating they can move faster than their much larger relatives.

(Image: a sharptail sunfish lying on a blue tarp. It looks similar to a Mola mola , but with black clavus and fins. At the back of the clavus is a triangular extension. End ID)

(Image: a person holding a slender sunfish. The fish is small enough to be held and has a longer and skinnier body than other sunfish. Its body is a shiny silver with blue lines. End ID)

Mola mola is classified as vulnerable by the IUCN while the other species are classed as either data deficient or least concern. Molas are vulnerable to strikes by boats and bycatch. Another danger to them is plastic bags, which can easily be ingested after being mistaken for a jellyfish. The bags can suffocate the fish or block their digestive tracts. Despite their size, molas are docile and not dangerous to humans. I found one example of a mola harming a human and it happened when the fish jumped out of the water and landed on a boat. Allegedly, some fish have learned to recognize and approach SCUBA divers. Molas are difficult to keep in captivity due to their size, the amount of space the need, and special feeding needs, so only a few aquariums have them. Molas are captured for food, with the biggest markets being in Taiwan and Japan, where they are often called mambos.

(Image: a SCUBA diver attempting to hand feed a small mola. End ID)

[chilirasbora]

Blue-spotted sunfish | Enneacanthus gloriosus

x, x

[blackopals-world]

part 3 of "The Way to a Man's Heart" with Jade,Floyd, Ortho and grim please?

Grim and Ortho plantonic please

Idk if Ortho can eat or not?

"The Way to a Man's Heart" part 3

(part 1) (part 2) (part 4)

Jade and Floyd

More often than not Yuu ended up being caught in order to eat with Jade and Floyd. Sometimes it was a ploy to get her to join the Monstro lounge as a cook other times it was boredom. Either way, it was hard to escape the lanky tweels who she dwarfed in size. Chances are that if she cooks for one eel the other will show up.

Jade was grinning from ear to ear as he watched Yuu cut up her freshly caught fish. She needed to quickly flash freeze it for it to be sushi grade.

He had noticed something when she was in the fidge. Yuu and Floyd had something in common and she tried to hide it.

As she moved on to battering and frying calamari Floyd held up the offending food she tried to avoid.

"~Loooook at what I have Pumpkin-seed sunfish~" Floyed said shoving a portobello mushroom in her face.

Not paying attention at first she jumped back the moment the mushroom touched her.

"Floyd Leech, if you don't put that thing away!" Yuu felt a shiver down her spine as Floyd taunted her.

"Come on little chef, you should love mushrooms. They are so tasty." Jade joined in as he cornered behind her. The twins had her surrounded now.

This was her greatest shame as a chef. Her most hated ingredient that she refused to eat. Mushrooms.

"Come on Pumpkin~ take a bite!" Floyd cooed as Yuu turned around to hide her face in Jade's chest.

"Nooo~"Yuu whined into Jade's shirt.

"Okay Floyd, you can stop." Jade smiled smugly was he wrapped an arm around Yuu.

"Ahhh, that's not fair! I wanna hug Sunny!" Floyd complained as he pulled on Yuu's arm. "I wanna squeeze my shrimpy."

There would be no squeezing as Yuu pushed both the gangly eels out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

She was able to finish working on the new dinner menu with many interruptions. The tweels only came by to be fed morsels by hand as long as they stayed out.

Azul was supposed to stay in his office until the food was ready but he wondered outside. He spotted the tweels being fed garlic shrimp.

He shyly joined in and wanted patiently for a sample before going back to his contracts.

The tweels still taunt Yuu with mushrooms but they keep her fear to themselves. It's more fun this way.

Grim

Grim was treated like a prince by his henchmen already but today he was like a king. It was his birthday. He was catered to with endless food and affection as always but Yuu promised him a special surprise.

He was expecting a feast rivaling Scarabia with tons of fish and gifts. Yuu planned a a small party with friends and made sure their was plenty of food.

Grims gifts included a set of expensive collars from Kalim, new rose patterned bowls from riddle, brushes from Vil , coupons for Monstro lounge from Azul, a climbing tree from Leona, a new cat bed from Malleus, and Idia got him a new video game.

Say it again, he was a spoiled cat.

The guests were served foods that Grim liked like sushi, turkey, and lamb but the dishes were cooked to please human tastes. The dishes were intricate with seasonings and where marinated, glazed, and braised. Grim's food however was cooked to Grim's preference, mostly raw. Though Leona and the other Savanaclaw boys took a few bits.

Yuu had a special dish in store for Grim tonight. In the middle of the party the lights turned down as Yuu appeared with a cake just for Grim.

It wasn't made from cake batter. It was made from medley of ground up chicken, tuna, shrimp, the frosting was made from Churu his favorite cat treats. Bits of steak where used to decorate the faux cake. The mini cake had small lettering with "♡Happy birthday Grim♡" written on it.

Grim loved his gifts but he loved Yuu's cooking more. She never got mad or made a fuss when he wanted something. Before he met her food was so difficult to find and good food was nearly impossible. Grim had never been loved or cared for by anyone and now he has a human who holds him every night. Everyday he gets to hang out with people and try new foods he has never imagined. Even when he's bad she doesn't hit or yell at him.

As Yuu made her way to Grim to place the cake down she sang him "Happy Birthday" and Grim barly contained himself when she smiled. She handed him a card when the cheering and clapping ended. Inside it read "I'm happy to be and always will to be your forever home. This world and the next can never separate us and never will."

Grim jumped into Yuu's arms and nuzzled into her neck mewing like a kitten. His purrs where loud as he thanked her.

Ortho

Ortho doesn't eat. He does help with shopping and recipes.

They go to the farmers market to pick of ingredients and Ortho picks up foods his brother likes.

Yuu and Ortho spend like making candy like taffy. Ortho can stretch the taffy like an industrial machine which makes short work of mixing it.

Whenever they finish Ortho takes the extras and hands it out at his dorm. Idia always sends a thank you text for being kind to his brother even though he can't eat any of the stuff you make together. Ortho just enjoys Yuu's company.

[antiqueanimals]

Virginia Wildlife; vol. 16, no. 7. July, 1955. Illustration by Bob Hines.

Internet Archive

[thenativetank]

Out of curiosity. What are y'all's favorite species of north american native fishes? Any in particular flood your brain with feel good juice (endorphins)? I wanna know!

[fishrights69]

My Top 5 GARBAGE fish that suck

Here we go again. After receiving a very high ammount of notes!! (61 UwU) on the last fish list, here's another top 5 no one asked for. I've tried to use the reasoning of ''all fish are good'' but let's be honest, we'd be better off without these. 5. Monkfish🙏

So these things are weird as hell. Their ugliness alone landed them on this list. Not only are they ugly as shit, but they're also mean motherfuckers that eat basically anything. They like to cover themselves in mud and just chill there until something crosses their path which imo is fucking lazy. Some people do eat them as a delicacy apparently(ew?). Props to them for getting over the looks. Ugly/10 5/10 for laziness 4.Hairy Frog Fish💇‍♀️

If you wonder wtf are you looking at, this fish is the living embodiment of that feeling you get when you find hair in your food. This girlie loves to swallow as it's mouth can open to make space for fish almost twice her size so don't go sitting too close 💦 Still, it doesn't take away from the fact that she looks like a mistake. 4/10 appearance 8/10 for the deep throating skills 3. Goblin Shark 👺

First of all, these sharks look like if someone designed a fish based on a child's drawing of a shark. Instead of going the terrifying route and choosing one of these pictures, I opted for a derpy yet still creepy photo. Besides being quite good at ambushing prey, these dudes still tend to eat man made garbage which further argues their position on ''the garbage fish top5™''. They also are basically living fossils since they're old af and most of their body is atrophied. 3/10 appearance 6/10 for still living so long despite everything.

2.Bony-Eared Assfish🍑

This fish is for all ass obsessed fuckers. Grilling this baby and enjoying it counts as eating ass. Some cool facts about him: -The bony-eared assfish has the smallest brain-to-body weight ratio out of all vertebrates. -Assfish are soft and flabby with a light skeleton (so like a real ass) As for personality, they are not what I'd call assholes. They are quite sluggish as they prefer to sort of flap around with short bursts of energy instead of swim. They don't do much besides that which makes them a very underwhelming fish despite the sexy name :( Apparently they were given this name to make up for how utterly boring they are. 2/10 appearance 1/10 Interest in them or what they are good for (spoiler, nothing)

If you're a fish enthusiast, you probably know what's coming at nr.1 🥁 🥁 1. Ocean Sunfish☀️

There are far, faar too many reasons for this fish to be on the first spot. Not only are they the dumbest fish in the whole world, but they also are not good swimmers AT ALL (wtf is with these poorly designed fish who cannot swim??). Scientists are still perplexed at how this fish continues to stay alive. If you want more shitty facts about them, here's a link to a very famous post trashing these bitches. BUT, I have my very own reason to hate the sunfish. One cursed morning, I decided to go get educated about animals and visit Naturalis, a museum in Leiden, The Netherlands. I was having a blast looking at all the beautiful animals showcased, along with the cool facts and atmosphere. I excitedly get to the aquatic creatures floor and mesmerised, I try to take in all the beauty. At the long corridor nearing the exit, I look around admiring the fish that were displayed. Thinking I had seen it all, I move further when I turn a corner and out of nowhere.. . . . . . . . BAM

this GIANT motherfucker, hidden in a corner makes it's presence known. I'm not kidding when I say this thing is huge. Here's a picture of the replica from another angle for size reference. As you can guess, I was legit extremely spooked and actually screamed. :( 0/10 appearence 0/10 fuck this thing. useless and it gave me a heart attack

BONUS: I'm sorry but I think I've tortured myself and you enough, so to make up for it, here's a cute fishy instead: (take him)

Alright thanks for reading and follow for more fish content. Suggest me some more top5's I could do, be it fish related, or whatever your mind decides to curse me with. Still need to cleanse yours eyes? My top 5 coolest fish

[swaps55]

The Fusion of Stars

@katerinaalianovamindin asked about Kaidan's response to Sam's Lazarus scarring. So I wrote a thing, loosely inspired by this stunning art of Daggertongue's Amara Shepard.

~

“It’s like starlight,” Kaidan says, running gentle fingers down the scars crosshatching Shepard's ribs. In the dark of his cabin, they gleam with pale light.  

Shepard scoffs. “Hardly. Lawson said it was a side effect of the biosynthetic fusion.”

“Fusion, huh. What do you think makes stars shine?”

“If you give me a lecture about physics and nuclear fusion, I'll dunk your head in the fish tank.”

Kaidan cranes his neck to look over at the tank, where a jellyfish bobs in the corner and a sunfish darts through some seaweed. “You really think you could fit my head in that gap.”

“We could find out.”

“I think you’re trying to distract me from complimenting your starlight.”

“That’s because it’s not starlight. I’m more like Frankenstein’s night light.”

Kaidan lays his head on Shepard’s chest, fingers resuming their exploration. The scarring runs down most of Shepard’s left side. Ribs. Thigh. Hidden against the sheets, there’s a small rift across his right scapula, too, like a constellation etched right into his skin.

“It really bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Shepard shrugs the shoulder not trapped under Kaidan’s head. “No. Yes. I don’t know. I just…”

Kaidan waits for him to put his thoughts together, prodding gently when he gets too stuck in his head to actually get them out.

“Just what?”

“They aren’t mine,” he says finally. “They’re Cerberus’ scars. I didn’t get a say in it. The old me didn’t cut it, so they had to cook up something better in a lab. You think I’m joking but Frankenstein’s monster isn’t that far-fetched.”

“The new you is still the old you. And Cerberus thought you were so instrumental to the survival of humanity that they performed an actual act of god to bring you back.”

“Never believed in god.”

“No. You believe in the stars. You were born in them. Hell, you were born in the very star I used to look at through a telescope when I was a kid.”

“Died in them, too.”

“You are really hard to compliment sometimes, you know that?”

Shepard huffs. “Sorry. This past year…really sucked.”

“I know,” Kaidan says quietly, trying not to think about the last three. But those two years will never exist for Shepard, and right now, pointing that out will only hurt them both.     

Instead, Kaidan traces the fractured skin along Shepard's cheek with his lips. “The creation of stars is violent, destructive, even terrible,” he murmurs between kisses. “But that doesn't make the star itself any less beautiful.”

Shepard gazes at him, running tender fingers in Kaidan's hair. “How do you do that? How do you always find the good in something?”

Because it’s you.

“All the years I’ve known you, I’ve always seen this.” Kaidan caresses the gleam over Shepard’s ribs with feather-light fingers. Shepard jumps – Cerberus didn’t change the spots where he’s ticklish – and then tugs Kaidan closer to him. “You’ve always been a star in the sky I thought I could never reach. But then you chose me. And after I lost you…you came back to me.”

“Your very own glowstick,” Shepard says, lopsided smile on his face.

Kaidan swirls the gravity well. Shepard’s biotic field hums in response. “You’ve always been a glowstick. Brighter than anything Cerberus could ever do to you.”

Shepard’s corona kindles, like a swish of silk under Kaidan’s skin. “Yeah, but I can turn that off. These?” He cups the marks on his own chin with his fingers. “Not so much.”

“Just means I can find you whenever you get lost in the dark.” Kaidan wraps an arm around Shepard and buries his nose against his neck. “You’re no one’s monster. You’re mine. And I love you.”

Shepard exhales, content. “There are perks to resurrection, I guess. Like getting to hear you say that again.”

“I love you,” Kaidan repeats.

“Mmmm.”

“You do make a good nightlight, though.”

Shepard snickers and rolls them over, pinning Kaidan to the mattress. Kaidan gazes up at him, reveling in the whisper of his biotic field.

You have no idea how beautiful you are, Kaidan thinks. You never have.  

He strokes Shepards cheek, where the light breaks through. “I don’t care what made you. Cerberus. God. The fusion of stars. You’re here. In my arms. To hell with the rest.”

“The way you say it almost makes me believe it.”  

Kaidan pulls Shepard down to him and whispers in his ear. “C’mere and I’ll prove it.”

Shepard sighs against him, warm, solid, real, with a heart beating strong and steady under Kaidan’s palm.  Mine, Kaidan thinks. The light and the dark, the broken and beautiful. He wants all of it, wherever it leads.

He strokes the scars that Cerberus gave them with reverent fingers, and Shepard arcs into the touch.     

[pleistocene-pride]

The lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), also known as the giant jellyfish, arctic red jellyfish, or the hair jelly is a species of large jellyfish which inhabits the cold, boreal waters of the Arctic, northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans and is especially common in the English Channel, Irish Sea, North Sea, and in western Scandinavian waters. Lion's mane jellyfish remain mostly very near the surface, at no more than 66ft in depth (20m) depth. Their slow pulsations weakly drive them forward, so they depend on ocean currents to travel great distances. The jellyfish are most often spotted during the late summer and autumn, when they have grown to a large size and the currents begin to sweep them to shore. Unlike most pelagic jellyfish, they are completely solitary and rarely travel in groups. The lion's mane jellyfish uses its stinging tentacles to capture, pull in, and eat prey such as fish, zooplankton, sea creatures, and smaller jellyfish. Lion’s mane jellyfish are themselves eaten by sea birds, sunfish, other jellyfish species, and sea turtles particularly the leatherback sea turtle. Lion's mane jellyfish are named for their showy, trailing tentacles reminiscent of a lion's mane. They can vary greatly in size from a bell diameter of 20 inches (50cms) to upwards of 6.5ft (2m), with tentacles reaching up to 120ft (36.6m) in length making them amongst the longest animals on earth. They vary in coloration from orange, to tan, to red. While most jellyfish such as the moon jelly have a circular bell, the bell of the Lion's Mane is divided into eight lobes, resembling an eight-pointed star. Each lobe contains about 70 to 150 tentacles, arranged in four fairly distinct rows. Along the bell margin is a balance organ at each of the eight indentations between the lobes – the rhopalium – which helps the jellyfish orient itself. From the central mouth extend broad frilly oral arms with many stinging cells called Cnidocytes. Closer to its mouth, its total number of tentacles is around 1,200. Like other jellyfish, lion's manes are capable of both sexual reproduction in the medusa stage and asexual reproduction in the polyp stage. Lion's mane jellyfish have four different stages in their year-long lifespan: a larval stage, a polyp stage, an ephyrae stage, and the medusa stage.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #422

Warmouth!

During breeding season in the spring, males will create disc-shaped nests in the substrate near a hiding spot like a log or a large patch of grass! After a female lays her eggs in the nest and the male fertilises them, the male will then guard the eggs from anything that approaches, including other females. They're members of the sunfish family!