If you're interested in using any of these photographs in any way, please contact me. Send an e-mail to naturalhistoryphotos(at)gmail.com. Thanks!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Guess who?

Time for a close-up mystery photo!  

Do you have ideas about what type of organism this is?  

[I'll reveal the answer tomorrow night.]


4 comments:

Tim said...

we have just been going through zooplankton samples in the lab. A prawn zoea? That is as specific as I can guess, but the can all look alike! although the eyes look unusual. I like the rear facing spines on the carapace whatever it is.

Jackie Sones said...

Hi, Tim!

Good guess! It is in fact a zoea...but not of a prawn, as I think you knew.

And for those of you who don't know what a "zoea" is, it's the free-swimming larval stage of decapod crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, and shrimp).

I'll reveal which species this is later tonight!

:) Jackie

Anonymous said...

Pass out the cigars! Pelagic red crab!?!?!?!
KB :)

Jackie Sones said...

Hi, KB!

Not sure if I should reveal the answer before tonight's post...but perhaps I should! You win! It is a Pelagic Red Crab zoea!

I'll show some more pictures tonight. They're pretty darn cute. And it's fun to see what they look like/how they swim/etc. There aren't many photos/videos of live Pelagic Red Crab zoeae, so we hope to change that tonight.

:) Jackie