@bwwilliams.bsky.social
Research Curator of Non-molluscan Invertebrates at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences ๐ฆ๐ชฑ๐งฌ etc | General promoter of invert chaos
Bronwyn holding a large worm between her thumb and first finger.
One of a trio of Hirudinella ventricosa specimens acquired in a very timely donation. While it looks a bit like a leech, this is a trematode that parasitizes wahoo. โข found in the stomachs of two wahoo caught off the coast of North Carolina a week ago. Happy Halloween ๐
31.10.2024 16:31 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Many crayfish species have a rare blue โmorphโ that shows up every now and then. Itโs wild to see, and they are typically this shade of cobalt. Individuals of the crayfish pictured here are always blue, and also wild to see.
06.07.2023 14:22 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Oh, and perhaps my proudest moment? Saying โbutt suckerโ on camera and having it make the cut. (Small goals)
*Itโs a butt. Itโs a sucker. Therefore itโs a butt sucker!
Note: โfloofiesโ w/ respect to dorsal appendages on branchiobdellidans is next.
Earlier this year we spent an amazing and fun 2 days filming various invert things in my lab with the PBS Sci NC science team. A YouTube short just dropped from this endeavor. Learn about crayfish worms, clawed ostracods & witness me making crazy facial expressions: https://youtu.be/mX6IKpaAeqw
05.07.2023 19:37 โ ๐ 10 ๐ 4 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 1
A greenish damselfly perched on a rush in a wetland.
View of white yarrow with a rural pasture in the blurred background and a tall mountain with a pine forest and a clear sky.
Hello! My nature photos are wonderful to me, and one of my many pithy mottos is โIf I love it, I want you to love it, too.โ
04.07.2023 21:45 โ ๐ 16 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 1
A top down - dorsal - view of a red crayfish. Cambarus carolinus.
A top down - dorsal - view of a blue crayfish. Cambarus aff. dubius.
A top down - dorsal - view of a tan crayfish with white legs, red highlights, and dark (blue-black) fingers of the claw. This is Cambarus aff. howardi.
A dorsal view of the tail of a female South Mountains Crayfish, Cambarus franklini, showing its blue color pattern with red highlights.
For some inexplicable reason I feel like posting images of a few crayfishes - all of which occur in North Carolina - that are various shades of red, white, and/or blue. Photos by my amazing talented colleague Michael A. Perkins, NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
04.07.2023 18:19 โ ๐ 17 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
I knew pill millipedes were adorable, but this pushes it over the edge.
Zephroniid from Cambodia, Kampot Province | collected May 2000
Behold this 102-year-old adorably furry Orange Jumper (I think ๐ฌ) InverteButt from the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Collection. Collected in Raleigh, North Carolina, September 1921, by C.S. Brimley.
09.06.2023 12:35 โ ๐ 4 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0Well done, very well done.
07.06.2023 22:02 โ ๐ 1 ๐ 0 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
That time you collect a turtle leech with a brood of eggs, forget about it - leaving it in a tackle box for three weeks - finally remember and think to move it to find dozens of leechlets. Score!
07.06.2023 21:01 โ ๐ 3 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
Two people - one carrying a rolled up seine net - wading into a sandy, tree-lined stream.
Q- How many undescribed crayfish species can we find in 1 day in an area in western North Carolina 22 miles long x 4 miles wide?
A- At least five, plus one with a name. ๐ We have our work cut out for us!
One small miracle: the branchiobdellidans shown here ARE known (Xironodrilus bashaviae) ๐ฎโ๐จ
here's our larger giant isopod, which just got its ethanol changed after taking this photo ๐ (new pfp of me holding it like a baby for scale)
05.06.2023 15:46 โ ๐ 29 ๐ 7 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 1
The underside (inside) of a marine bivalve with a shell crab pressed into it.
THIS is custom-fit protective wear! A Granulate Shellback Crab (Hypochonca arcuata) collected 28 July 2004 off Usina Beach, Jacksonville, FL by SEAMAP biologists. The functional form-fit shell even comes with its own bling: bryozoans, a tiny anemone, worm tubes, and traces of barnacle.
05.06.2023 15:10 โ ๐ 12 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 2 ๐ 0
