To help bring more awareness to marine conservation, overlooked aquatic organisms, and ecosystem engineers (ex. kelp and mangroves, deep-sea bacteria, and keystone species), I’m starting a monthly “Species of the Month” spotlight over on !marine@r1b.it!
The idea is simple: every month, we highlight a marine or aquatic species, dive into its ecological role, and share research/appreciation around why it matters to its ecosystem.
I know I’m a little late to get the ball rolling, but I’m opening nominations for October now! If you have a favorite aquatic species, an endangered marine animal, or an underappreciated ecosystem worker you’d like to see featured, come drop a nomination! Perhaps even one with a spoookkyy twist? You can see more information about how to do so in the original post on r1b.it.
Since this community of course isn’t dedicated to my little series, it will be far easier to keep track of nominations if they are kept within !marine@r1b.it. Though, I don’t want to force you all out of your bubble (or force my community upon you), so 'll be sure to keep tabs on !tidalpunk if you want to explicitly specify that you’re making a nomination :)
Looking forward to seeing what species get put forward!
Barreleye, Macropinna microstoma. Nominate it for the thing almost nobody knows: the two dark spots above its mouth that everyone reads as eyes are nostrils. The eyes are the green tubes, and they rotate.
Ecologically it’s a hanger-on in the literal sense. It holds itself still in the dark under siphonophore colonies and eats what they catch, which is why there’s almost no footage of it doing anything. A fish that lives by being invisible in the one habitat where being seen is the whole cost.
I read it wrong for years, and the wrong version is the one that gets repeated.
Thanks for the nomination :) I do really love these guys
