check this out - what do you make of it?

[whodah]

weatherson (http://www.weatherson.com) took another round of shots and caught something really peculiar... reposted w/ his permission, check this out!!

i'm gonna go ahead and post the larger sized images rather than a couple hundred pixels left so you can examine the detail.

whatcha make of it? eating it's own skirt deformity?

http://www.zoaid.com/gallery2/d/1023-2/669_huh.jpg


and closer...


http://www.zoaid.com/gallery2/d/1028-2/670_huh_close.jpg

[Zoalander]

It's like anything else in nature. Thats just a dumb zoo. It's like a dog biting it's own tail and then getting mad and biting it again.

[SuperFishy]

its either hungry... or.......... you know..

[MarvinsReef]

wow.. interesting... never seen that before...


Marvin

[Mrs.kbmdale]

Well, although it is definitly one of the weirdest things I've seen......
I observed from the pic that it's not only "appearing" to eat it's own skirt, but the part that it IS trying to eat looks all melded together, maybe it's trying to correct itself by eating that bit of skirt to regrow some normal tentacle things, or whatever you call them.

Anyone else notice that, or think that? Just my assumption though ,

Brianna:rollface:

[Mr. Ugly]

It's sucking its thumb :)

Or maybe like that joke about why do dogs.... uh, nevermind ;)

[Jovreefer]

I noticed the melting together too... Amazing pic BTW, I wish I could take pics half that good.

Whats the dog joke?

[reefgeek84]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6545643#post6545643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jovreefer
I noticed the melting together too... Amazing pic BTW, I wish I could take pics half that good.

Whats the dog joke?

Why do dogs lick themselves?...cause they can not make a fist. :p

[Ludwigia73]

Cuz they can! It might have caught a bit of food on that tentacle, and is eating! Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.

[whodah]

in it's 8 tentacles fused together you mean... ;)

[jerrymlr1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6542933#post6542933 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SuperFishy
its either hungry... or.......... you know..
LOL:lolspin:

[Azurel]

I thought the same thing as Mrs.kbmdale, according to Bournman most zoanthus species don't actually have a large feeding response unlike protopalythoas and palythoas. Thats a pretty weird defect, great pics.....

[gflat65]

Reminds me of college days passed;).

[weatherson]

Here's an updated photo of the same polyp. Note the shortened tentacles on the right, new growing tentacles at the rear left and how the mouth is now colored orange. Lipstick? Evolution before our very eyes? ;)

http://www.weatherson.com/photos/680_zoa_wierdness.jpg

Joseph

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Cool Pic's.


SOO if we want to change the color of our zoo's we just feed them to each other. ;)


Yes I have been reading about the 'experiment" on changing a zoo's color by injection. :D

[Fishman1113]

That is cool. You will have to keep us posted if anything new happens. Very interesting.

[whodah]

nice - thanks for posting! :D

[Azurel]

Kinda neat how nature takes care of itself. I would never have guessed that it would have ate it's deformity and then regrown some new tenticles. Very cool pics.......

[RevHtree]

AMAZING! Both Pictures and Zoa Cannibalism...;)

[Shawnts106]

Evolution before our very eyes?

LOL.. when will people ever learn...


No, not "evolution" just reconstruction... kinda like when we have a hangnail... and bite or cut it off. and it regrows back fine...

[weatherson]

Actually, I was referring to the mouth's new coloration and not the self mutilation/reconstruction.

[AcroSteve]

Your photgraphy is absolutely amazing.

[weatherson]

Thank you sir.

[ficklefins]

I have seen this way too many times.

It starts off with lipstick....then

Earrings

Pearl Necklace

And Highlights

BAM!!!!


http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d168/ficklefins/showzoa.jpg

[Azurel]

LOL...Now that is a rare zoanthid.