iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Ever wondered where Nemo lives? 🐠 In the Indo-Pacific, clownfish live with Entacmaea quadricolor (bubble-tip anemones). The anemones shelter the fish, & the fish provide the anemones nutrients and defend them from predators & parasites. Nature’s teamwork—mutualistic symbiosis!

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peracaridabackbone.bsky.social @peracaridabackbone.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Naomi Rodriguez @nhm.org uses integrative taxonomy to better ID marine isopods—tiny but vital players in marine ecosystems—tackling the challenge of consistent species IDs for this group. She also made a zine to bring isopods to life! peracarida.org/about/research #WednesdayWisdom

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

#FridayFunFact Sea urchins have no eyes, bones, heart, or brain — yet they can still sense light! Their whole body acts like one big eye as they use their tube feet & spines to detect changes in light & navigate their surroundings.👁️ Heliocidaris australiae, found off Australia.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

City Nature Challenge 2025! 🌱📸 Apr 25–28, join a global effort to protect biodiversity—just by taking pics of nature near you. 🦋 1️⃣ Download the @inaturalist.bsky.social app 2️⃣ Take photos 3️⃣ Upload sightings 4️⃣ Learn as your observations get ID’d! Photos: @vijaybarve.bsky.social

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Ologies with Alie Ward @ologies.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

NATURE NERDS UNITE. It's global competition time. The City Nature Challenge goes from April 25- 28, and you can help scientists by adding sightings of plants, animals & fungi using @inaturalist.bsky.social. Follow @lilahiggins.bsky.social & @nhm.org to learn more! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu8g...

youtube.com

Join the City Nature Challenge 2025 | April 25-28

YouTube video by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)

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California Academy of Sciences @calacademy.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Biodiversity is more than just a vocab word — it’s essentially the sum of all life on Earth and we rely on it everyday. 🌎

Background of a coral reef. Text says “Ecosystem Diversity. The variation of different habitats, communities, and their interactions within a geographical location. Coral reefs have high biodiversity.

Background of a forest of trees. Texts says “Why does biodiversity matter?”

Background of a sand dune covered in wildflowers. Text says “We rely on biodiversity for many things, like food, shelter, medicine, pollination, climate regulation, etc. When there’s biodiversity loss, all of these things are put at risk.”

Background of a blue butterfly on plants. Text says “The more biodiverse an area is, the more resilient it is.”

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California Academy of Sciences @calacademy.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Happy #EarthDay and welcome to our Biodiversity 101 course! 🤓 🌎

Background of our Living Roof. Text says ”Happy Earth Day! It’s Earth Day, a day about the importance of protecting the planet. You’ve probably heard the word biodiversity mentioned a lot around this day but …”

Background of paintbrush wildflowers. Text says “What is biodiversity? Biodiversity is the variety of all living things and their interactions. It can be broken down into 3 categories: genetic, species, ecosystem”

Background of a silvery blue butterfly on a flower. Text says “Genetic Diversity. Genetic diversity is the variation of inherited traits and individual and species has. The more genetic variation a species has, the more adaptive that species can be to change.

Background of a purple flower on a seaside cliff. Text says “Species Diversity. Species diversity is the number of different types of life in an area and their abundance. Describing a new species is one of the first steps at protecting biodiversity. Out of the estimated 10 million species on Earth, only about 1.9 million have been described.”

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California Academy of Sciences @calacademy.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

This year marks the 10th anniversary of this #CommunityScience campaign. It is organized by community science teams at Cal Academy and @nhm.org.

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California Academy of Sciences @calacademy.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Keep up the energy all weekend: The observation period runs from Friday, April 25 through Monday, April 28. Head to bit.ly/citnat25 for a map of California events & participants!

Rebecca Johnson, PhD, uses her phone to photograph a patch of lace lichen on a tree, using her hand to pull the branch closer to her. A bubble-style text overlay reads “Step 5: Repeat (all weekend!).” A separate text bubble in the right corner reads, “Your IDs & observations could contribute to scientific research!”

Three people stand, crouch, and hunch over a patch of rocks in a California tidepool. Two people use their phones to photograph species observations. A bubble-style text overlay reads “Participate: Strike out on your own or join a local bioblitz!” and includes the following link to a map of California events: bit.ly/citnat25

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California Academy of Sciences @calacademy.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

This one’s for the nature nerds and the outdoor-curious among us: City Nature Challenge starts TOMORROW and we want you to participate. Swipe through for an easy guide on how to find, photograph, and upload observations of your local wildlife—all weekend long! 🦌🌿🐟🦅🪻🐌🌈🌳🦆

Two people huddle over a cellphone, using the iNaturalist species observation app while standing among bushes and plants. A bubble-style text overlay reads “Join the 2025 City Nature Challenge.”

A view of San Francisco’s cityline is shown during the daytime, with ravens flying in the photo’s foreground. The sky is clear and blue, with a few clouds in the distance. A bubble-style text overlays explains the “what” and “when” of City Nature Challenge. WHAT: City Nature Challenge is a global bioblitz where cities compete to find & document local nature! WHEN: April 25-28.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

🌍 Earth Day @nhm.org! 🌿 #EarthDay2025 We’re still buzzing from Saturday's @nhm.org Earth Day Festival! A highlight? The MBC’s “All Things Isopods” table that had: 🔎 Live sorting 🎨 Sketching 🫙 Exploring museum collections Let’s keep the Earth Day energy going! ✨

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Are you a student eager to explore museum collections research?🔬✨Apply for the @nhm.org HMLA Collections Study Award by April 1. Connect with curators & collections managers first to discuss your project. 👉 nhm.org/student-coll... #MuseumStudies #CollectionsResearch #NaturalHistory

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

This incredible sea creature shares some surprising similarities with us. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑🔍 #WhatIsItWednesday #MarineBiology #Invertebrates #diginverts

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Who doesn’t love ice cream?🍦Meet the ice cream cone worm, Pectinaria gouldii! These builders craft intricate cone-shaped tubes just one sand grain thick! They live in tubes beneath the sediment in shallow waters, using their golden bristles to dig & their tentacles to find food.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

What is this organism? A plant?🌱No. An animal?🐮 Yes. A coral?🪸Not even close! This is a moss animal, a colonial marine invertebrate related to lamp shells (Brachiopoda) and horseshoe worms (Phoronida). @sbnature.bsky.social

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Bathysciadium pacificum is an ultra-rare deep-sea snail. This tiny marvel, only the 2nd specimen ever found, showcases an incredible range extension from Peru to Oregon — over 7,000 km! Its unique fuzzy rays are made of periostracum proteins. @sbnature.bsky.social

t.co

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372855105_Bathysciadium_pacificum_Dall_1908_from_the_bathyal_of_Oregon_range_extension_and_anatomy_Gastropoda_Cocculinida_Bathysciadiidae

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

What creature is this? Meet the zoanthids, a group of mostly colonial, filter-feeding cnidarians that settle on other marine fauna (here, a glass rope sponge). While they resemble coral polyps or sea anemones, they actually belong to their own order, Zoantharia.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Recently, @sbnature.bsky.social finished cataloging their Bryozoa collection—one of the world's largest! 🌎 They digitized 20K lots, including over 1K type specimens. Many are mounted on glass histology slides for SEM, requiring specialized curation techniques. t.co/kH6GuLD2YE

t.co

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379823370_How_to_Curate_and_Digitize_Bryozoa_Experiences_at_the_Santa_Barbara_Museum_of_Natural_History

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Most sea urchin genetic research focuses on globe-shaped species, but thanks to Matthew Stephenson in the Greg Rouse lab @scrippsocean.bsky.social, we have the 1st mitochondrial genome for an “irregular” species, Echinocrepis rostrata, the pyramid-shaped urchin🔗 doi.org/10.1080/2380...

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Check out the stunning bioluminescent waves lighting up Southern California! 📷 @vijaybarve.bsky.social #bioluminescence #glowingocean #oceanmagic #underwatermysteries

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Set sail on the epic Velero expeditions in episode 3 of the #DigInDiaries. 🛳️🔍 See how @nhmla.bsky.social is bringing history to life by digitizing Velero data & specimens. 🌐 Watch the full video on Instagram @diginverts: instagram.com/reel/C9QbL_x...

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Episode two of the #DigInDiaries! A deep dive into digitization at @nhmla.bsky.social Watch the full video on Instagram @diginverts www.instagram.com/reel/C6XTe_f... #diginverts #MarineScience #OceanResearch #MarineBiodiversity #MarineInvertebrates #InvertebrateCollections #MarineResearch

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Curious about DigIn? Watch part 1 of the #DigInDiaries. 🪼🪸 Check out the full video on Instagram @diginverts www.instagram.com/reel/C5bX6Y3... #MarineScience #OceanResearch #MarineBiodiversity #MarineInvertebrates #InvertebrateCollections #MarineResearch #OceanEducation #MarineTaxonomy #Marine

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Dive into this deep-sea mystery!🔎Scientists at @miamirosenstiel.bsky.social found unknown, long, white siliceous filaments on a scalpellid and a sponge. These filaments are not part of the organisms! Can you help identify them? #MarineMystery #DeepSeaScience @univmiami.bsky.social

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Love marine worms?🪱 Venus's servant worms (Veneriserva pygoclava) are parasitic annelids that live inside other fuzzy annelids called sea mice (Aphrodita longipalpa). #diginverts Dissecting a sea mouse reveals an adult (yellow) & juvenile (blue) parasite! @scrippsocean.bsky.social

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Sea spiders have the unique ability to breath through their legs! Oxygen passes along the legs’ large surface area, and intestinal pouches in the legs diffuse the oxygen throughout the sea spiders' tissues. #diginverts #seaspiders #spiders

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

The Venus’ flower basket is a glass sponge made up of 1000s of tiny pores, which draw in water so the sponge can feed on bacteria & plankton. This process helps keep our oceans clean as a small glass sponge reef can filter 80K liters a second & remove 90% of the water's bacteria!

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

When you think of #coral, you are likely picturing Scleractinian corals, the group of true or #stonycorals. Scleractinians build hard skeletons and structures out of calcium carbonate, making them the primary reef-building corals. 🪸 #coralreef #diginverts

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Pasiphaeid & sergestid shrimp are valuable nutrient recyclers that sometimes feed near the seafloor and then traverse the water column, “giving back” nutrients to other parts of the column. 💩 Photo: Glass shrimp collected as a part of the @scrippsocean.bsky.social MAS MBC program.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Sea stars can regenerate their nervous systems, which is a rare ability among animals. Researchers are studying this physiology for its potential to inform the development of therapeutic treatments for human brain injuries. #seastars #diginverts Photo: Chrissy Piotrowski @calacademy.bsky.social

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Some sea stars have the uncanny abilities of autotomy (casting off a limb) & regeneration (regrowing body parts). See the tiny new arms & central disk growing from a cast off arm of Linckia multiflora that was collected during @calacademy.bsky.social's #HopeforReefs work in the Maldives.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Spongia officinalis, aka the common bath sponge, is found in the Mediterranean. Humans have used this sponge as a scrubbing device for millennia! S. officinalis typically grow on sea floors, but these specimens from @natural-history.bsky.social grew on a piece of sunken pottery. #diginverts

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Did you know that @sbnature.bsky.social houses the complete Raymond C. Osburn collection described & noted in "Bryozoa of the Pacific Coast of America." This material includes a large number of primary type specimens, like Bientalophora cylindrica (Osburn, 1953. SBMNH 669500).

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Simple-armed basket stars resemble Tim Burton's character Beetlejuice, and not just for their white stripes. #diginverts💀 These stars are miniature monsters in their own right, especially to unassuming copepods that get caught by the stars' serpentine appendages.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Checkout this time lapse of a female rapa whelk (Rapana venosa) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science laying dozens of egg cases over the course of two hours. One female rapa whelk can lay up to TWO MILLION eggs per season! #MolluskMonday #diginverts

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

When scientists explore new deep sea habitats, most of what they collect turns out to be new or undescribed species. In 2015, a new species of coral (Crypthelia kelleyi) was accidentally collected by the ROV Deep Discoverer on a glass sponge reef. oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/expl...

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Did you know that the Invert-E-Base portal contains over 6.6 million records of marine invertebrates, of which 3.9 million are identified to species? Anyone can explore the data and create an account in the portal: invertebase.org/portal #iDigBio #SymbiotaSupportHub

invertebase.org

InvertEBase

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Researchers at @scrippsocean.bsky.social & Occidental College (Shana Goffredi) found the 1st example of bone-eating worms using a food source other than bone. What is it? Shark teeth! 🦈🦷 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

Osedax (Siboglinidae: Annelida) utilizes shark teeth for nutrition | Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom | Cambridge Core

Osedax (Siboglinidae: Annelida) utilizes shark teeth for nutrition - Volume 103

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

If you're a picky eater, you're not alone. Did you know that worm-like, shell-less mollusks in the class Solenogastres are picky eaters? Most solenogasters are thought to only feed on one type of cnidarian. #FridayFunFact Photo: The solenogaster Epimenia arabica by @kmkocot.bsky.social

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Over 1K visitors explored Marine Science Day at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in June 2023. Guests learned about current research, seined for critters at the beach, examined live organisms & preserved specimens, met scientists, enjoyed seafood, & made ocean-themed crafts! 🎨 #MarineScience

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

CA residents participated in #SnapshotCalCoast, an annual two-week event to make & share observations about plants, animals, & seaweeds along the CA coast using the @inaturalist.bsky.social app. See @nhmla.bsky.social folks snapshotting Cabrillo Beach! 📸

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

'Crabs' come in 2 infraorders, Brachyura (true crabs) and Anomura. To quickly tell whether a crab is a brachyuran or anomuran, count the pairs of prominent visible legs! If you see 4 instead of 5, that's a good sign the ‘crab’ is an anomuran. #FridayFunFact Photo 1: @vijaybarve.bsky.social

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

A study led by Décima Lab out of NIWA New Zealand highlights the impact salp’s fast sinking fecal pellets can have on carbon export. When salps are present the biological carbon pump is more efficient, sequestering atmospheric carbon to the ocean! #RVTangaroa www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Palaemon macrodactylus, a shrimp native to Japan, Korea, & Northern China, thrives in diverse habitats worldwide due to its tolerance for moderate salinity levels, making it a highly invasive species. Researchers say ballast water from ships likely brought it to the U.S. 🚢

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

#WayBackWednesday to when @natural-history.bsky.social received an incredible donation of over 12K fiddler crabs! 🦀Thank you to Dr. Frank Barnwell, who dedicated 40+ years to researching these crustaceans. Before arriving at AMNH, @northern-iowa.bsky.social students helped curate this collection!

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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County @nhm.org · 05/02/2025

Through our new web series “L.A. on Wheels”, explore how Angelenos have transformed movement into a celebration of creativity and community, capturing the rhythm and ingenuity of the city while offering a look at how mobility connects us to the rich tapestry of life in L.A! 🚲 nhm.org/la-on-wheels

Text "NHM Online presents L.A. on Wheels" amidst a collage of various people using methods of transportation, showcasing collectibles, roller derby, and more.

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Crustaceans in the family Phronimidae found a bizarre way to ascend from their ancestor's benthic niche & live a pelagic lifestyle. Phronimids prey on filter-feeding gelatinous zooplankton, hollow out their bodies, & use their bodies for protection, buoyancy, & reproduction. 🦐

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diginverts.bsky.social @diginverts.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Sea stars are excellent at regenerating. Most can grow back a lost arm, & some species can grow an entire body back from a severed arm! ⭐️ But even these stars of regrowth make mistakes. Regeneration errors cause some individuals to have 1 too many or 1 too few arms. @myfwc.bsky.social

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