Here for research

[Xray]

No, it's not a hydra or a jellyfish or even a cuttlefish. (You are way off, Xray, I said "above" and not "to the left" - you'll see the cuttlefish if you scroll to the top of the page.) It is not a member of any of those classes.

Looks like I already selfishly counted my shiny golden Atlas Points before earning them.

I really have no idea what that creature in your avatar is. Some kind of octopus because it has eight tentacles?

Is it a real animal at all? It initially looked to me more like a creature designed for a fantasy film.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Xray

[caroljane]

No, it's not a hydra or a jellyfish or even a cuttlefish. (You are way off, Xray, I said "above" and not "to the left" - you'll see the cuttlefish if you scroll to the top of the page.) It is not a member of any of those classes.

Looks like I already selfishly counted my shiny golden Atlas Points before earning them.

I really have no idea what that creature in your avatar is. Some kind of octopus because it has eight tentacles?

Is it a real animal at all? It initially looked to me more like a creature designed for a fantasy film.

Come on Ted, tell us what it is, you worm!

[kiaer.ts]

, you worm!

You're getting warm.

[9thdoctor]

, you worm!

You're getting warm.

Some kind of protozoa? Looks kind of like an Ood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K6QB1-ovDI&feature=related

Edited March 22, 2011 by Ninth Doctor

[Reidy]

I don't know what it is, but I can't believe it's what it looks like.

[caroljane]

I don't know what it is, but I can't believe it's what it looks like.

Below the tentacles it reminds me of Kate Middleton's famous see-though dress.

I know what it is, but I'll let everybody keep guessing. I had help anyway. And I can't collect the Atlas points anyway, I was going to give them to my bff Xray. They are not legal tender here and having them puts you on a Mountie watch list.

[kiaer.ts]

Don't worry, Peter, it isn't.

Yes, Ood fetus is a good guess, Dennis. But it is too complex to be a single celled protozoan.

Here is a better picture:

[caroljane]

Don't worry, Peter, it isn't.

Yes, Ood fetus is a good guess, Dennis. But it is too complex to be a single celled protozoan.

Here is a better picture:

It has a pre-oral hood, which sounds vaguely improper to me.

Free-associate with types of shellfish,-- this isn't one although it is briny.

[9thdoctor]

Yes, Ood fetus is a good guess, Dennis. But it is too complex to be a single celled protozoan.

Protozoa can get pretty complex looking:

Obviously, yours looks like a mushroom with tentacles, maybe trying to offer a hug.

What's this thread supposed to be about?

[caroljane]

Yes, Ood fetus is a good guess, Dennis. But it is too complex to be a single celled protozoan.

Protozoa can get pretty complex looking:

Obviously, yours looks like a mushroom with tentacles, maybe trying to offer a hug.

What's this thread supposed to be about?

That protozoa looks like a space shuttle, and the two purplies are adorable.

If this isn't research I don't know what is.

[Philip Coates]

High end condom. Fifty dollars for a six pack. (Too small for me, though.)

[kiaer.ts]

Yes, Ood fetus is a good guess, Dennis. But it is too complex to be a single celled protozoan.

Protozoa can get pretty complex looking:

Obviously, yours looks like a mushroom with tentacles, maybe trying to offer a hug.

What's this thread supposed to be about?

That protozoa looks like a space shuttle, and the two purplies are adorable.

If this isn't research I don't know what is.

I can't identify the bugger to the left, but the purplies look like Trichomonas vaginalis or a close relative.

My creature is multicellular. While the single-celled protozoans may have flagella or cilia, which are cell organelles, my creature's tentacles are obviously not cilia, but extensions of the body wall. Likewise, the internal organs which are clearly visibly are obviously not cell organelles.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Ted Keer

[caroljane]

I can't identify the bugger to the left, but the purplies look like Trichomonas vaginalis or a close relative.

Ted, (I hope) You're (not) a sick man!

[kiaer.ts]

I can't identify the bugger to the left, but the purplies look like Trichomonas vaginalis or a close relative.

Ted, (I hope) You're (not) a sick man!

My own avatar is a free living invertebrate, not a disease organism, if that's what you mean. The purple meanie was in ND's post.

[9thdoctor]

I can't identify the bugger to the left, but the purplies look like Trichomonas vaginalis or a close relative.

You'll find them here if you want to look into the articles they came from and find out what they are:

http://www.google.com/images?q=protozoa&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=6iD&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbs=isch:1&ei=sUyJTcOAOMWRgQeW_6W-DQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=835

So how long are you going to keep us waiting? There's no way the answer isn't going to be anti-climactic. I say this as someone who has very little interest in zoology. Unless it's narrated by David Attenborough.

EDIT: I looked, and the purple one's are Giardia lamblia

One of the more common parasitic organisms is Giardia lamblia. This parasite grows in the upper GI tract and produces greasy, smelly diarrhea.

Who does it make you think of? It's between Perigo and Valliant, I'm thinking. And since there's two in the picture...

Edited March 23, 2011 by Ninth Doctor

[Mikee]

Haven't found it yet but this guy is so cool I have to post it:

http://jackiehildering.smugmug.com/Underwater/video/Video-Pacific-Northeast/11385355_SfPE8#995983002_2JY27

From the Marine Detective: http://themarinedetective.com/category/marine-invertebrates-e-g-sea-slugs/

[caroljane]

Haven't found it yet but this guy is so cool I have to post it:

http://jackiehildering.smugmug.com/Underwater/video/Video-Pacific-Northeast/11385355_SfPE8#995983002_2JY27

From the Marine Detective: http://themarinedetective.com/category/marine-invertebrates-e-g-sea-slugs/

Gorgeous! Sea Slug is the way my mother used to describe me in the summers. I was never attached to kelp though - I never liked dulse our Provincial Snack.

I think I've found my new avatar.

[basimpson22]

zooplankton?

http://www.mesa.edu.au/AtoZ/images/zooplankton01.jpg

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/squid.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/07/the_bering_sea_project_the_imp.html&usg=__r-_bhuUpl4d1XMNMdN8WBj7cEMc=&h=241&w=245&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&tbnid=EINh89vxpPIPcM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=110&ei=iY6JTdvlGYTg0gGDlL2DDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalien%2Bzooplankton%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D626%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1

Edited March 23, 2011 by Aristocrates

[basimpson22]

Actinotrocha larva of a phoronid worm a.k.a. horseshoe worm

http://www.tafi.org.au/zooplankton/imagekey/phoronidae/images/actinotrocha_larva_a_full.jpg

Edited March 23, 2011 by Aristocrates

[Philip Coates]

> So how long are you going to keep us waiting? There's no way the answer isn't going to be anti-climactic. I say this as someone who has very little interest in zoology. [ND]

Just be patient. These little puzzles and games are fun. It's okay if they go on for a day or three, giving browsers time to discover the question.

What I want to know is what's with that freaky little pair of "eyeballs"? Have the Martians invaded? YIKES!! If I remember my high school biology, microorganisms, one-celled life forms, protozoa, paramecia, amoebas and the like don't always have a central portion and even the ones with a nucleus would have only one dark 'spot', not a matched pair. The eyespot is a much later development, if I recall, and you don't get -two- of them until you have bilateral symmetry which arises with much bigger creatures like worms. Unless this a worm spawn or egg or larva... (Okay, I'm out. That exhausts any high school biology or Asimov science essays I half-remember at the moment.)

Edited March 23, 2011 by Philip Coates

[kiaer.ts]

What I want to know is what's with that freaky little pair of "eyeballs"? Have the Martians invaded? YIKES!! If I remember my high school biology, microorganisms, one-celled life forms, protozoa, paramecia, amoebas and the like don't always have a central portion and even the ones with a nucleus would have only one dark 'spot', not a matched pair. The eyespot is a much later development, if I recall, and you don't get -two- of them until you have bilateral symmetry which arises with much bigger creatures like worms. Unless this a worm spawn or egg or larva... (Okay, I'm out. That exhausts any high school biology or Asimov science essays I half-remember at the moment.)

Well, that gets you four out of a six possible Atlas Points, Phil.

The remarks on symmetry and paired organs are all correct - except that I don't think the "eyespots" are eyes as such, but likely excretory organs. (I chose the image because they do look like eyes, of course.) And yes, it is a larva.

Any hints I can give will make it easy to find. What would you identify as this creature's obvious identifying features? Phyla are identified by broad characteristics, like backbones for vertebrates, a mantle (and usually foot and shell) for moluscs, and so forth. The phylum of this creature is very small in number of species.

[kiaer.ts]

Actinotrocha larva of a phoronid worm a.k.a. horseshoe worm

Can you show your work?

[basimpson22]

I came across some zooplankton that looked similar to the horseshoe worm. Then I learned that many zooplankton are the larval stage of various marine creatures. At the time I hadn't recalled that someone already suggested that it was something in larval form. But anyways, I then searched larvae zooplankton and that was one of the first images that came up.

I provided links to the images in my other posts....

Here's the webpage and pic http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tafi.org.au/zooplankton/imagekey/phoronidae/images/actinotrocha_larva_a_full.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tafi.org.au/zooplankton/imagekey/phoronidae/index.html&usg=__d-KBP24p4qST1hOV3vfT7qu5KpI=&h=690&w=1024&sz=228&hl=en&start=54&zoom=1&tbnid=FHxkpVqv4RfKYM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=179&ei=WRWKTbDWO5K3tgf0ma3oDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlarvae%2Bzooplankton%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D626%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C1478&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=967&vpy=140&dur=4357&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=154&ty=63&oei=RBWKTb6cB86jtgfZvoX4DQ&page=4&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:54&biw=1280&bih=626

Edited March 23, 2011 by Aristocrates

[kiaer.ts]

I came across some zooplankton that looked similar to the horseshoe worm. Then I learned that many zooplankton are the larval stage of various marine creatures. At the time I hadn't recalled that someone already suggested that it was something in larval form. But anyways, I then searched larvae zooplankton and that was one of the first images that came up.

I provided links to the images in my other posts....

Here's the webpage and pic http://www.google.co...iw=1280&bih=626

Thanks. That's worth the six Atlas Points , plus one for extra credit.

The phoronids are a small phylum in the lophophorate superphylum, which includes bryozoans, and the superficially bivalve- like brachiopods. The lophophorates all have a ring of tentacles as part of their feeding mechanism. Higher animals are grouped into two great groups, the protostomes, and the deuterostomes, which differ in the developments of their guts and the internal arrangement of the nervous system. Vertebrates and Echinoderms (we and the starfish) are deuterostomes. Moluscs, and annelids form one great branch of the Protostomes, Arthropods and their allies another. The Lophophorates share some characteristic of each group, and most classify them as primitive protostomates close to the origin of the two higher lineages.

Here is the Wikipedia article where I first found the image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoronid

Here are images of all sorts of phoronids: http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1169&bih=684&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=phoronid&aq=f&aqi=g2g-msx1&aql=&oq=

Here are images of the living fossil brachiopods, which are like phoronids living inside what look like bivalve molusc shells: http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1169&bih=684&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=brachipod+living&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

Here are various lophophorates (note the name means "crest-bearer", hence the pheasant-like bird mixed in with the images): http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1169&bih=684&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=lophophore&aq=f&aqi=g1&aql=&oq=

Here is a chart of the relations of the animals. The lophophorates are not depicted, but would be a lowest branch of the protostomes, between them and the deuterostomes.

[caroljane]

Sigh. I could have got a carton of cigarettes on the Black Market here for half those Atlas Points, but I am too Respectable.

I still love the avatar. I have a grey jacket with floppy sleeves in which I often do my imitation of it. although I now know that the attractive crinoline effect on the bottom consists entirely of anus.How wonderful and weird is life and all its forms.