#tw dead crustacean

[daikatanaman]

Today was the day i finally started researching for science... i think.

I had to identify each species that my advisor managed to find on a beach.

They were collected in a beach which had rocks, on low tide, so some of the species collected were actually common from reefs.

I went from the crabs first, because I thought they were the easiest ones to identify... boy i was wrong, just the brachyura identification of the coast of brazil had basically 800 pages, but this big one here was actually easier to id, because, for one, because of the slippers on their backs, they are surely what the brazilians call a "siri", so from the family Portunidae, to get the actual genre and species was a little bit tricky, basically, the males from the genre Callinectes have their telson in a T form (the book is very vague about what the hell is a T, but its their telson), you had to see little spikes they have around the eyes to determine the species, its probably a Callinectes danae

its not their penice s btw,,,

these are pistol shrimps, one of them had eggs with them, i'll have to study some Alpheidae (pistol shrimp superfamily) identifications so i can ID these ones.

The other ones were 2 Carcinus maenas and a bunch of Clibanarius crabs, that i won't show cuz they're pretty gory, because they were stuck in their shells and i had nothing to break the shells, so i had to yank them out (worst part of doing ids with crustaceans).

also was a pain in the ass to look cleary throught the lenses of the macroscope, so i made a sketch based on what happened

thats it....

[rattyexplores]

Photos 1-2 - Carapace, washed up 10-15m away from body

Photos 3-4 - the rest of the body

Photos 5-6 - closeups of claws

Photo 7 - flattened hind leg / Photo 8 - the other legs

Photo 9 - closeup of carapace / Photo 10 - internal structure beneath carapace

Dead crab that washed ashore. The carapace had detached from the rest of the body and washed up separately, but its still a clear match in my eyes.

You can see how its last legs are modified (or flattened I guess) for swimming.

17/09/23 - Portunus sp.

QLD:WET - Cardwell, ocean shore

[nyctibiius]

ended up in a sea-themed truck stop (in a land-locked country???) didn’t have enough cash for the cowfish so i left in a state of emotional turmoil.

[crudlynaturephotos]

[sockatoothewafflebird]

a year or so ago, i had a weird dream about a bug apocalypse. like an end of the world sort of scenario in which giant bugs take over the world and we humans become the pests. the roles reverse and humans become the inconsequential miniscule dust specks.

and then i decided to write about it. i turned it into a whole story. here's what i've come up with.

tw for lots and lots of bugs. like this whole story is about bugs. if you're icked out by it i don't mind if you ignore this, your comfort matters more than my infodumping

let's start at the beginning.

at first, johnathan just noticed that a few ants in his yard were awfully large, especially considering the species. he noticed a lot of bugs were getting unusually large. and in the summer that year, mosquitoes were a much bigger issue than they ever had been, and deaths from malaria were skyrocketing. not good.

a few months pass. plant produce prices get a lot higher due to pests hurting the industry.

a lot of people get worse and worse bug bites and stings.

johnathan works in a meteorological department lab whatever, and he notices some weird anomalies in the weather. reports it. turns out it's swarms of bugs becoming actual storms big enough to block out the sun.

at first it was just odd. now? it's practically world-ending. a global issue. the seafood industry breaks down because all the crustacean foods like shrimp and crab and lobster become too big to catch, too much to handle. agriculture becomes almost impossible, and diseases spread like wildfire. all in the span of a year.

at this point shit is hitting the fan, but it only gets worse one day. one day, when the earth shakes, the seas change, the sun isn't visible. from the ground comes huge bugs, spiders the size of cars and houses, centipedes that could wrap around skyscrapers. from the sea comes crabs the size of islands and pincers that could dwarf the marianas trench. from the sky descend flies and locusts and wasps and bees all buzzing with a deafening roar. the hives span entire city blocks, the flies swarm and buzz and hum.

all in a day, the roles reverse. humans are the pests now.

collossal arthropods that almost put the burj khalifa to shame. some are friendly, some are violent. all of then are much smarter than they were before, intelligence that rivals ours.

the bugs can bathe in the sun, and they strike fear in the humans that are reduced to the dirt.

in the shadows, scientists find ways to genetically modify a human fetus with traits of arthropods. hundreds of children with the traits of arachnids or crustaceans or myriapods or insects. and one child with them all.

a boy named micah that can speak with the arthropods as if they were his brothers, a boy that can leave pheromone trains and grow insect wings and a scorpion tail and coconut crab pincers. a boy with everything.

the story follows wren, a no-nonsense college student with a special interest in bugs; johnathan, a scientist with a really freaky mysterious past; and micah, the boy that could probably save the world if he wanted to. they all find themselves lost in a huge city infested with huge bugs; mainly flies, smaller centipedes, the occasional bee or beetle. all bigger than they can reasonably overpower, but they somehow live anyway.

their main goal once they meet each other? get out of the city. find one of the refuges. and just.. don't get got by a bug.

i don't have any real name for this, other than maybe the swarm. in the dream i had that inspired this, some guy comes home to see his wife and daughter dead, killed by a swarm of violent bloodthirsty flies. his whole house is taken over by them and while he runs away, he shouts, "IT BELONGS TO THE SWARM NOW!" so that's where i get the phrase "the swarm" from. i can't come uo with any other name for the story. any suggestions/ideas are welcome.

please ask questions and say stuff about this! i think this is probably my favorite story in the briefcase full of weird concepts i've come up with and i'd love to talk more about it if anyone wants to hear more.

[fantabulisticity]

Queen Elizabeth II is dead!

[kennyq]

[kryskakikomi]

THE CRYSTALLINE SHORE.

sorry this is really close to the deadline @flashfictionfridayofficial :’)) had a bit of trouble getting an idea for this prompt,, but im pretty happy the final result so i hope you enjoy ittt

wc: 399

tw: none, just bittersweet angst

arcana taglist: @adaparkwrites @aslanwrites @apricotwrites @raven-n-tha-moonlight @birdywrites

***

Kiara was standing in the shallow waves of the beach, with a pair of wooden sandals in her hand. The carnelian sun was halfway past the horizon and illuminated the shore with warm yellows and oranges. She watched the small ripples and waves with a calm expression as nostalgia filled her.

She sighed, her other hand grabbing the hem of her sky blue top. The view of the lonely beach at sunset was something Kiara loved with her heart. Risen up by a beach for basically her entire life, how could she not get all sappy at a familiar sight?

As the icy water crashed against her bare legs, she turned her head back to the land. Willow trees and dark green grass at the edge of the sand, a rocky bay to her right that was brimming with crustaceans and small pretty things; and the abandoned damp and dark wooden homes with peeling paint.

To think, hundreds of kilometres away in a different country, decades ago, Kiara used to call something akin to those her home. And no doubt it’s just as battered and broken as the ones here.

But she’s despaired enough. And what the others had gone through probably was worse than her own woes.

A gust of freezing wind rushed through her long platinum-blonde hair. The sky was grey and dreary, and the warm light bathing her khaki-beige skin was now gone. The water’s crystalline look still stayed though. When Kiara looked down at the water, she softened her expression and tightly held her arms. Her reflection was staring back at her; dead-eyed with a small sad smile. It was always the water, huh? The times she was happiest was when she played around by the sea or at the waterpark; her strangest when she met her, now, closest friends in the creepy cave at that bay; and her saddest when she weeped by the ocean all alone.

Kiara kicked her reflection and turned around, stuffing her sandals back on. Everyone was likely panicking about where she was right now—she’d been gone for the entire day since 5 in the morning with only her keys, coat and motorbike.

She dashed up the stone stairs and pulled on her navy trenchcoat. Revving up the bike, Kiara quickly glanced back at the ocean below, before riding back home with a smile, “Maybe I should’ve brought them along.”

***

[arthropodalchemist]

This little guy kept trying to eat the dead skin on my hand when I was trying to show him to my friend xD