Trond Oskars

Indian ink, water colours and guach.

Vampire squid by Carl Chun, 1903. Image from the NOAA Photo Library (Public Domain) Bela Lugosi as Dracula, anonymous photograph from 1931, Universal Studios (public domain).

Vampire squid • MBARI Swift and mysterious, vampire squid are an icon of life in the deep midwater.

So behind the Dracula cape hides not a monster, but a gentle recycler keeping the deep sea clean.

More about the squid:
www.mbari.org/animal/vampi...

#spookyspecies #biodiversity

Vampire squid • MBARI Swift and mysterious, vampire squid are an icon of life in the deep midwater.

It lives in the dark, deep sea.

But Instead of hunting the living, it drifts silently through the deep, collecting “marine snow”, tiny flakes of dead plankton and detritus sinking from the surface.

Vampire squid • MBARI Swift and mysterious, vampire squid are an icon of life in the deep midwater.

Here's my take on a vampire squid dressed up as Bela Lugosi's version of Dracula.

Here’s the twist: it doesn’t drink blood.

I am all in a sea of wonders. 

Dracula, Bram Stoker

The vampire squid Vampyroteuthis infernalis, it's name literally means “the vampire squid from hell.” 

Sounds like a Halloween nightmare, right?

🪸Marine biologist @trondoskars.bsky.social calls iNaturalist the 'Twitter for species' (let us call it Bluesky for species 😆! ) Amateurs post photos + locations of organisms. Researchers and other skilled amateurs then help ID them. The result: verified, open data on #biodiversity.

🤣 sorry, we already went with Confettiella, but I will keep it mind if it's cousins turn up. Cutilucens has a nice ring to it. Taxonomist often give funny names and hide them in latin

Today, on Carl Linnaeus’ birthday, we celebrate the science that names, classifies, and safeguards life.

The Image is Confettiella malaquiasi, a genus and species I had the joy of naming in 2024

#nameittosaveit

If species is named, it is defined and we can guess what it does based on its place in the taxonomic system, and how it fits into an ecosystem.

You can’t conserve “a weird little snail someone once saw.”

But you can conserve a species with a name, a description, and a place in the tree of life.

A name defines us, and it defines species too.

Without a name, a species It will be difficult to study, track, protect, or even discuss properly.

Scientific names allow us to communicate clearly, organize life’s diversity, and understand how species are related.

They hold predictive power.

Taxonomists are the unsung heroes in this tale.

They classify, describe, and help protect life on Earth.

Their work is the foundation for conservation, ecology and scientific progress.

Why does a name matter?

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁.

.

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘆!

Yesterday I posted about how we don’t really know our biodiversity.

There are an estimated 8–11 million species on Earth.

Less than 15% are named and described.

Without names, their stories may never be told.

#NameItToSaveIt 🌐 🦑 🐙 🧪

A Giant clam - Tridacna gigas - grows in a sponge
#gili #giliislands #lombok #diving #scuba #trawangan #diveandstay #giliair #fish #ocean #sealife #marinelife #clam #shell #sponge

A tide pool teeming with life, including red, green, and brown algae and surfgrass.

#BiodiversityDay #MarineLife 🦑🌊

Many marine creatures that give gems a good run for their money 😄

The life you find on a kelp frond. The colony in the middle is the star colony tunicate, Botryllus. Each ray is an individual

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity.

A day to raise awareness of the value of biodiversity, and the urgent need to protect it.

Let’s study it.

Lets' learn.

Let’s not wait until it’s too late.

The image is the diversity on a simple kelp frond.

We actually know very little about the diversity we depend on.

There are an estimated 8–11 million species on Earth.

Less than 15% are named and described.

That means, we don’t know their role in food webs or ecosystems.

We don’t even know what we’re losing, or what it could’ve meant for us.

We rely on biodiversity in more ways than we realize.

Food. Medicines. Ecosystem stability.

We problaby know eveything about something s important?

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁.

“𝙒𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙞𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮.”

E. O. Wilson
🐙 🦑 🌐 🌏 🧪

T𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱-𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝘀?

It's not that they’re really absent.

We just haven't been looking closely enough.

Here's the twist.

🧪 🐙 🦑 🌐 🌊

It’s the only one we’ve got.

If we don't take care, we have nowhere to go.

Something we need to remember this #earthday .

#biodiversity #ocean

The image is public domain NASA Voyager 1

“That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.”
– Carl Sagan

Sagan was referring to the tiny blue dot in the image.

A tiny blue grain.

Mostly ocean.

Teeming with weird and wonderful life.

It looks calm and blue from space.

But up close, it's messy. Fragile.

Here’s the twist:

🐙 🦑 🌐 🧪

Microplastics discovered in caddisfly casings from the 1970s suggest long-term contamination A team of biologists working at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, a research museum in the Netherlands, has found evidence of caddisfly larvae using microplastics to build their casings as far back a...

Microplastics are everywhere.

And have been for some time.

Caddisfly larvae have rocked them since the 70ties.

Microplastics have been in the food chain longer than many of us have been alive.

And we’re still acting like it’s news.

🌐 🦑 🐙 🧪

phys.org/news/2025-04...

The reef we found was a Lophelia or Desmophyllum pertusum reef.

The boat we were on was actually called the Lophelia!

We also found a lot of sponges and other interesting creatures living in the corals 🪸 hence #spongebob (my daughter is a fan!).

Read our open access paper on low cost Rapid coral hunting here here : rdcu.be/ehKnc

🧪 🐙 🦑 🌐 🌊

And let's not overlook the value of the Marine Basemaps in the Coastal Sone (Marine grunnkart).

These bathymetric and sediment maps made our search for coral habitats much easier.

Have you solved a big question with simple tools in your research?

We did Rapid Assessment Surveys over a few days, using low-cost tools, a micro-ROV and a small vessel.

A bit of creativity led to significant discoveries.

This study demonstrates that RAS can quickly record vulnerable habitats.

Even in deep, steep, and hard-to-reach fjords.

So, why the discrepancy in public maps?

Records of CWC in coastal waters are sporadic at best.

Norway’s Coasts, particularly in rural areas, haven't been thoroughly explored.

Marine Biodiversity surveys are often costly.

But here's the second twist: We didn't rely on big-budget surveys.