FIRST UP from the Sea Beasties Division: No. 1 seed #1 Saber-Toothed Anchovy (Monosmilus chureloides) vs No. 2 seed Midgardia Seastar (Midgardia xandaros) #2021MMM
Tonight's Battle is a collaboration with @je_light, and I frantically double-checked some things with @DrewLab an hour ago. #2021MMM [gif is rabbit running late]
Saber-Toothed Anchovy has had a pretty uneventful tournament so far. Round 1 was easy, with a swish of the tail sending Copepod out of the field of battle & Rounds 2 & 3 ended with Pink Vent Fish & Vampire Squid meals #NomNomNom #2021MMM
Scans of the jaw of the fossil Anchovy showed "replacement teeth that are not yet connected by bone to the underlying jaw" in case any were lost while biting down on prey #2021MMM royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…
"Swim on the tide
in discord and rhyme
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Mouth is alive with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the fish"
#2021MMM
in discord and rhyme
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Mouth is alive with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the fish"
#2021MMM
Migdardia Seastar has been the #WorstBear of this year's tournament. This competitor has literally done NOTHING thus far, simply sitting on the ocean floor while Hydra was enveloped in a hypertonic solution & dissolved into nothingness #2021MMM
Midgardia spent the next two rounds with its arms waving in the ocean suspension feeding while Yeti Crab refused the #MMMagic battle portal & poor Ammonite imploded #2021MMM
Like other Brisingidae Seastars, our Seastar likely feeds on planktonic crustraceans. One brisinginid relative "is an opportunistic macroscopic suspension-feeder" that uses its arm spines to create a filter & grip organisms (Emson & Young 1994) #2021MMM link.springer.com/article/10.100…)
"In touch with the ground
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Smell like I sound, I'm lost in a crowd
And I'm hungry like the Star"
#2021MM
[gif is singing seastar]
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Smell like I sound, I'm lost in a crowd
And I'm hungry like the Star"
#2021MM
[gif is singing seastar]
Seagrass meadows are "like secret gardens in the sea" teeming with marine animals. These ecosystems help slow global warming by absorbing lots of carbon dioxide from the water like terrestrial plants take up carbon dioxide from air #2021MMM kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.338…
"A single acre of seagrass can produce over 10 tons of leaves per year, providing food, habitat, and nursery areas, supporting as many as 40,000 fish, and 50 million small invertebrates" #2021MMM flkeysnews.com/sports-outdoor…
Specifically tonight's battle takes place in the waving sea grasses that grow in the Florida Keys; a home to a rich, diverse animal community (this trophic cascade website is AMAZING!!!) #2021MMM floridamuseum.ufl.edu/southflorida/h…
It is just after low tide, the waves surge as the ocean returns to caress the shore... #2021MMM
Midgardia Seastar is tilted, partially on the sandy seabed... but arms tangled in the waving sea grass & jutting above the water line as the sun beats down. #2021MMM
“In touch with the ground
I'm in the grass
I'm sideways here.
Atilt in the sand
I'm lost and I'm caught.
And I'm grumpy in the sun.”
#2021MMM
I'm in the grass
I'm sideways here.
Atilt in the sand
I'm lost and I'm caught.
And I'm grumpy in the sun.”
#2021MMM
Anchovy arrives just a little bit later #TimeTravelJoke & swim zips through the marine grass searching for animal food... #2021MMM
Anchovy spots a NEWBORN nurse shark!
"Stalked in the grass,
too close to hide
I'll be upon you by the sunlight side"
#2021MMM
"Stalked in the grass,
too close to hide
I'll be upon you by the sunlight side"
#2021MMM
The seagrass meadow is the nursery for the newborn nurse shark. Many marine fish that spend most of their lives in coral reefs or open ocean need mangroves or seagrasses at the start of their lives #2021MMM
Nurse sharks are ovoviviparous- meaning they are born less than a foot-long, but well-developed ready to hunt and fight!
but something they love to eat that doesn't have much fight... SEA STARS!
#2021MMM
but something they love to eat that doesn't have much fight... SEA STARS!
#2021MMM
AND LOOK AT THAT CHONKER OF A SEA STAR!!! #2021MMM
Just kidding, Midgardia Sea Star may be giant in diameter, but the Family BRISINGIDAE are weak and fragile (Downey 1973). The nurse shark easily amputates a sea star leg... CRUNCH!!! #2021MMM 
SNAP!!! SNAP!!! SNAP!!! SNAP!!! #2021MMM
The ambitious Sabertooth Anchovy collision attacked the Nurse Shark... driving both their bodies into the precariously tilted Sea Star breaking many Sea Star arms!!! #2021MMM
The nurse shark twists to fight off the three times bigger Saber-Toothed Anchovy, as their riotously thrashing bodies roll over Midgardia Sea Star SNAPPING MORE ARMS!!! SNAP SNAP SNAP #2021MMM
THE SINGLE SABERTOOTH DRIVES INTO THE SHARK'S SKULL!!
"Stuck on my tine
it's dinner & time
I won the hunt
I’m eating you
Taste is divine
with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the fish"
#2021MMM
"Stuck on my tine
it's dinner & time
I won the hunt
I’m eating you
Taste is divine
with juices like wine
And I'm hungry like the fish"
#2021MMM
And the Midgardia Sea Star?
"Pieces on ground
I broke from the crowd
I'm on the tide, I'm drifting now...
I look like I sound,
I'm lost and I'm down
And I'm dying now for sure"
#2021MMM
[gif is singing seastar]
"Pieces on ground
I broke from the crowd
I'm on the tide, I'm drifting now...
I look like I sound,
I'm lost and I'm down
And I'm dying now for sure"
#2021MMM
[gif is singing seastar]
SABERTOOTH ANCHOVY SHATTERS SEA STAR!! #2021MMM
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