# Show me the strangest organism you have learned about in 2020 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768 "2020-12-10T15:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/1 "2020-12-10T15:42:00Z")
Here is my own entry, the _ **bloodybelly comb jelly** _. The video is a few years old, but it was new to me. The shape-changing form and “glowing” lights really make it look very odd and alien to me. [YouTube video of Bloodybelly Comb Jelly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaX6BK66v9A) The Monterey Bay Aquarium says: " Brilliant and seemingly glowing, the bloodybelly comb jelly comes in different shades of red but always has a blood-red stomach. The sparkling display on the outside comes from light diffracting and refracting off tiny transparent, hairlike cilia. These beat continuously, propelling the jelly through the water. This species has only recently come to the attention of scientists thanks to images like this, supplied by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s remotely operated vehicles." ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/2 "2020-12-10T16:06:01Z")
[This “spider”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvNrOVf17Es&t=19s). Unfortunately, I can’t find a clip that doesn’t spoil the whole thing right from the start, but I learned about this animal from an Attenborough documentary, _Seven Worlds, One Planet_, that preserves the surprise. I watch a _lot_ of nature documentaries and have read quite a bit on biology, it’s really hard for me to still come across an animal I don’t have at least a slight familiarity with (like your comb jelly). This one was completely new to me. And it made me jump. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/3 "2020-12-10T16:22:44Z")
Possibly the giant planarians I discovered in my yard. > [@Today in nature I saw](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/221): > > A giant-ass planarian. [[Huge planarian, probably Bipalium kewense] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Y1L6uRMRc) Or maybe this praying mantis. [https://www.google.com/search?q=Metallyticus+splendidus](https://www.google.com/search?q=Metallyticus+splendidus) ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/4 "2020-12-10T16:33:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Possibly the giant planarians I discovered in my yard. Yikes! You have those carnivorous “hammerhead worms”? I’ve read about those being an invasive species in France and also in Georgia in the US. They eat your normal earthworms, which are beneficial to the soil. The mantis is beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/5 "2020-12-10T17:18:59Z")
[Barreleye fish](https://www.mbari.org/products/creature-feature/barreleye-landing-page/?fbclid=IwAR1_E-Qr24WtBM4kGBvkxm5Lyp8hhVYL3qTcigJDTFqvluN99vZkKj0ZnEY) My new favorite fish. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/6 "2020-12-10T17:54:17Z")
A **wheel bug**. > **[Arilus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_bug)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Arilus, or wheel bugs, is a genus of true bugs in the family Reduviidae, subfamily Harpactorinae and tribe Harpactorini. Most species are found in the Americas. > Five extant species plus one fossil species are included within this genus: One of these was on our front storm door one day a couple months back when I was coming back from walking the dog. It was huge! After we got inside, I snapped a couple photos of it then tried to figure out what it was. I found a website for insects in Kansas, with pictures (nearly 2,000 entries) but they were in alphabetical order, so it took me forever to finally find it. It’s hard to see from the Wikipedia picture unless you zoom in, but there is a spiny semi-circular fin on the back behind the head, which I guess is where the name comes from. It’s a member of the assassin bug family and will f\*\*\* you up bad if you mess with it, so I’m glad I left it alone. It was gone the next day. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/7 "2020-12-11T17:31:35Z")
I think it’s a childhood rite of passage to be grossed out by the knowledge that there are microscopic beasties living among our eyelashes. But these visuals gave me a whole new level oh wig. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YW2eGaUzq7E/maxresdefault.jpg "These Face Mites Really Grow on You | Deep Look") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW2eGaUzq7E) (Side note: they’re arachnids. I.e. arthropods. This made me wonder at what level of tinyness do the materials of their exoskeleton no longer support the mechanics of mobility? What’s the lowest size limit of working arthropod joints?) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/8 "2020-12-14T05:16:45Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > It’s hard to see from the Wikipedia picture unless you zoom in, but there is a spiny semi-circular fin on the back behind the head, which I guess is where the name comes from. Here is one that I met in 2002. [https://imgur.com/a/9k1X1df](https://imgur.com/a/9k1X1df) (It is kinda weird that I now have digital photos that are old enough to vote.) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/9 "2020-12-14T09:58:10Z")
Same; I rarely come across an animal I don’t have a passing familiarity with. This one was new to me as well. Utterly diabolical! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/10 "2020-12-14T11:20:10Z")
I like bats and would like to know more about them. Occasionaly I stumble in the net accross a particulatly weird looking species, today it was [this](https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/this-bat-wears-a-facemask/) one: Male wrinkle-faced bat ( _Centurio senex_ ) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/11 "2020-12-14T12:34:42Z")
[Mycorrhizal fungi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycorrhiza), not much to look at alone, but on a network… > **[BBC Earth | Home](https://www.bbcearth.com/)** > > Welcome to BBC Earth, a place to explore the natural world through awe-inspiring documentaries, podcasts, stories and more. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2020, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/show-me-the-strangest-organism-you-have-learned-about-in-2020/927768/12 "2020-12-14T12:40:01Z")
Great photo! When I was a young kid, maybe 6 or 7, my mom caught one in a glass jar. If I recall correctly, she had a friend at the local hospital who was researching an antivenin for their nasty-as-hell stingbite. She killed it with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, and I _sobbed_ at the cruelty. They’re reasonably common where I live, and I see them a few times a year. Fascinating little creatures.