I was also remiss in not mentioning, as Christopher Taylor pointed out, that they are equipped with a tubular proboscis that allows them to siphon out the insides of their cnidarian prey.
And Morgan wanted to show off this pycnogonid's egg sac. Looks like she carries it in a similar fashion to the wolf spider. Cnidarians beware! The pycnogonids, which are little more than spider-shaped jelly-sucking vampires, are reproducing, and your jelly-filled selves are in danger.
Thanks for the photo, Morgan.
Photo source: AWI.de
Well, at least this thing is missing that spidery middle part (abdomen? thorax?). You know, the bulbous one where Shelob keeps her giant stinger. And I can't see the fangs...though the enormous number of eggs in that sac is rather frightening.
ReplyDeleteSpiders have a cephalothorax (or prosoma) which means their head and thorax are combined into one unit (units are technically called a tagmatas). The big bulb at the rear is their abdomen, technically called an opisthosoma. The cephalothorax and abdomen are joined by a tube called a pedicel.
ReplyDelete*shudders*
ReplyDeleteEven if it's not a spider, it has more than four legs, therefor, it's creepy.
(Exclusions to this rule include butterflies and sometimes lady bugs)
*sobs*
ReplyDeleteget that thing away from me... oh god.
This is actually a male; the legs are suspended on modified first legs called ovigers.
ReplyDelete