Michael Middlebrooks

That looks fantastic! If you add in the scientific names I would love to have a copy to add to the bookshelf in my Invertebrate Zoology teaching lab. I'm in the US so not sure how bad tariffs would affect things, but I'd happily pay £20 for it.

Looking for some ideas on ID for this? We found a bunch of them attached to a sea slug. My guess is Licnophora (?) but this is really not my area. Any help would be appreciated! This is 400x magnification #protozoa #protistsky #microscope #id #ciliate

I love it. My half serious advise for students on presentations is to just go ahead and publicly embarrass yourself so badly that you can no longer feel shame.

The Independent in Tampa has an excellent tempeh Reuben.

The cover photo is a picture of the sea slug Elysia chlorotica from Tampa Bay, FL.

The cover of the scientific journal the American Malacological Bulletin. It feature a photograph of the green sacoglossan sea slug Elysia chlorotica.

Made the cover of the latest issue of the American Malacological Bulletin. #sluglife

We're hiring a Biology Lab Coordinator at the University of Tampa: utampa.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Staff/...

#academicsky #biology

We're hiring a Genetics Lab Coordinator at the University of Tampa: utampa.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Staff/...

#academicsky #genetics

I'm very excited about this conference and I can't wait to get back to the Philippines.

Exciting! I'm looking forward to learning about the new nudibranchs!

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has been sold, and is locally-owned for the first time since 2009 A vintage Creative Loafing Tampa Bay stand in April 2020. For the first time in 18 years, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is locally-owned. On Thursday

A group of current employees and two new partners completed the purchase on Thursday afternoon.

Bandcamp becomes the first major music platform to ban AI content Bandcamp is banning AI-generated music and won’t allow its content to be used for training AI models.

I've always liked Bandcamp as a platform for checking out new bands and a place to purchase music digitally. I found them really easy to work with when I was in a band. Great to see that they are doing the right thing about AI music.

www.theverge.com/news/861794/...

Here's the video from the manatee calf I saw nursing in Crystal River, FL.

A close up underwater photograph of the face of manatee with its mouth slightly open.

A picture of a young manatee underwater next to the tails of some larger manatee.

A underwater photograph of a baby manatee nursing on its mother.

I had a great time snorkeling with some manatees last week in Crystal River, FL. I even saw some baby manatees nursing.
#manatee

A ziplock bag full of crabs on blacktop pavement.

Seen in a McDonald's parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida. A ziplock full of crabs...

🦀

Top 5 Books
1. This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
2. Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
3. Godspeed Cedar Key by Michael Presley Bobbit
4. The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
5. A Rock and a Hard Place by JD Kirk

Top 5 Concerts:
1. Vampire Weekend @ Dailey’s Place (Jacksonville)
2. Bright Eyes w/ Hooray for the Riff Raff @ Jannus Landing
3. They Might Be Giants @ Jannus Landing
4. Slothrust w/ Weakened Friends @ Crowbar
5. Weird Al w/ Puddles Pity Party @ The Sound

2025 Personal Statistics:
Scuba Dives: 75
Concerts Attended: 41
No Longer Frozen Shoulders: 2
Scientific Manuscripts: 2
Scientific Presentations: 5
Books read: 37
Countries Visited: 3
Days Abroad: 45
Chocolate Smoothies: ~300

Someone's getting something very special for Xmas this year. Don't tell...

Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance VI Global Invertebrate Genome Alliance VI, July 2026, Philippines

GIGA VI will be in the Philippines July 6-10, 2026. We have a pre-registration survey and a survey for interest about the Genome Assembly Workshop we will be running during the meeting. Sign up to receive updates about the conference: gigavi.org

Michael Middlebrooks: The fantastically weird world of photosynthetic sea slugs Meet the fantastically colorful and astonishingly adaptable sea slugs that found a way to photosynthesize (or create energy from sunlight) like plants. Diving deep into these often overlooked creature...

I recognize that view milestones are a bit arbitrary, but my TED talk hit over 2 million views! Wow! I really just went to give a fun talk and was not expecting for so many people to see it. #sluglife 🦑🧪🐙

www.ted.com/talks/michae...

YouTube video by Todd Snider - Topic Enjoy Yourself

Sad to learn that Todd Snider, one of my very favorite folk singers, died last week. I am grateful I got to see him play several times. I found out from an email saying that the concert I bought tickets for had been cancelled...

Here's my favorite recording of his: youtu.be/3RWAuSdQWoM?...

Exciting! I am teaching about this very topic tomorrow morning. I guess I should read this paper tonight!

A light brown Nemertean ribbon worm.

A light brown Nemertean ribbon worm.

Finally, my student, Lea Hinsley, got these great photos of a Nemertean, aka ribbon worm. #Nemertea

The amphipod Cerapas sp. poking out of its tube.

The amphipod Cerapas sp. poking out of its tube.

Now we have the tube dwelling amphipod crustacean Cerapus sp. #amphipod

Here is a short video clip of the sea spider.

A pycnogonid, aka sea spider. This one has some red stripes on the legs and is carrying eggs.

A pycnogonid, aka sea spider. This one has some red stripes on the legs and is carrying eggs.

One of my favorite animals to find in the hydroids are Pycnogonids, aka, sea spiders. We had a real treat today because we found one carrying eggs. In sea spiders the males carry the eggs.

#invertebrates #pycnogonida

These are from a wild collection. I do run field trips for my lab, but the hydroids live a little too far away for us to visit during a lab period. (This is also a bit of a double dip for me because some of my students have a research project with one of the nudibranchs).

A brittle star with six arms. Half of the arms are very small because they are regenerating. The arms have brown stripes.

A brittle star with six arms. Half of the arms are very small because they are regenerating. The arms have brown stripes.

Next up a six armed brittle star! This one is in the process of regenerating half of its arms. Does anyone know the ID? I would love to figure out this one.

My research microscope needs repairs, so I am trying out some alternative methods for my photos. This isn't my best work, but I am having fun with it and these critters are too cool not to share.