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Ryan Howard

@abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social

420 followers 54 following 180 posts

PhD Candidate at the Auckland University of Technology studying the vision of deep-sea squids. Teuthologist 🦑 | Nerd 👾| Science Fiend 🔭|

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Nov 28

Hello Bluesky!

I’m Ryan, a squid biologist and deep sea ecologist working on my PhD in New Zealand.

Check out my sporadic posts if you want to see some pictures, videos, and presentations on deep sea research.

Trying on an immersion suit for our safety induction prior to a research voyage. These are used in case we have to abandon ship.

The large tooth of a Megalodon, an extinct species of shark that was likely the length of two buses.

Much of my current work is in specimens collected from fishers, or fishery surveys. This is Histioteuthis miranda, also known as a cockeyed squid. They have dimorphic eyes- one large and one small - which are used to scan above and below (respectively) them in the water column to look for potential prey and predators.

The large eye of Histioteuthis miranda, a cockeyed squid. The large eye is usually fixated above the squid, trying to see the silhouettes of other marine fauna above them that are created by the downwelling light. Many marine species have counterilluminating photophores to blend into the light and disrupt their silhouette. Histios have evolved a yellow lens which counteracts that illumination and allows them to discriminate between then photophores and the downwelling light.

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Feb 21

To my knowledge, the former

Reposted by Ryan Howard

Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · Jan 3

Brachioteuthis squids have these extremely long necks as paralarva, which give them a very goofy appearance.

A photo of a Brachioteuthis paralarva at night. It is transparent and blue, and it has a long neck. There are some orange chromatophores on the squid.

A blackwater photo of a Brachioteuthis paralarva. It is transparent and blue, and it has a long neck. There are some orange chromatophores on the squid.

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Reposted by Ryan Howard

AUT Squid Squad @autsquidsquad.bsky.social · Dec 26

And this was the #SQXmas2024 present we got most excited about at NIWA—a young Cycloteuthis, with ‘sun and moon’ photophores on the viscera in a configuration I’d never seen before. That’s a wrap for 2024—sending best fishes and squid tidings for the New Year!

A small deep-sea squid with bright white light organs in the mantle, one round and one shaped like a crescent moon

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Reposted by Ryan Howard

HulloThere @jethroreading32.bsky.social · Dec 23

You didn't think we'd get through the last week of #25DaysOfFishmas without one more anglerfish could you? But with 170+ species, how do you pick? Well, you just go with the weirdest one - today we're discussing Thaumatichthys, the wolftrap angler.

10 different deep sea anglerfish, from different families. On the left - Centrophryne, Cryptopsaras, Himantolophus, Diceratias, Bufoceratias. On the right - Bufoceratias, Melanocetus, Lasiognathus, Thaumatichthys, and Chaenophryne. The fishes share little in common, save large mouths and a bioluminescent lure, mounted on a "rod" extending from the forehead - the length of this rod varies, though, as does the complexity of the light organ at its tip. Some light organs are plain and bulbous, others very complex and covered with tassels. Credit: Miya, M., Pietsch, T.W., Orr, J.W., Arnold, R.J., Satoh, T.P., Shedlock, A.M., Ho, H.C., Shimazaki, M., Yabe, M. and Nishida, M., 2010. Evolutionary history of anglerfishes (Teleostei: Lophiiformes): a mitogenomic perspective. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 10, pp.1-27.

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Reposted by Ryan Howard

Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · Dec 21

All kinds of life happening here! Octo with leeches, polychaete, sea star, demosponges, kelp?, & i think I see a wee psolus along w/ a lot of other critters. They're currently trying to avoid an iceberg, which is fascinating the hell out of me. #SchmidtOcean dive 767 #IntoSouthernOcean #MarineLife

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Reposted by Ryan Howard

Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · Dec 21

Lovely swimming crinoid. #SchmidtOcean dive 767 #IntoSouthernOcean #MarineLife

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 23

I know! But technically… o_O

Big eye always on the left 😅

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 23

They’re also known as cockeyed squids because they have one large and and one small eye.

They float sideways so the large eye looks up for prey or predators silhouetted against the downwelling light. The small eye looks down to spot bioluminescent signals.

Alt text has more info!

🦑🧪 #Inverts

Shown are the two eye of Histioteuthis miranda, a species found in New Zealand. They have dimorphic eyes, one being larger than the other and where they derive their nickname, cockeyed squids.

The big left eye has a yellow tinted lens, which helps to discriminate downwelling blue sunlight from bioluminescent light many species use as countershading to camouflage in the deep sea.

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 23

Ah, histioteuthidae , easily one of my favorite families of squids. They have many names, one being strawberry squids.

Strawberry, because their bodies are covered in photophores, which resemble the seeds of a strawberry. Plus their mantle is kinda strawberry shaped.

🦑 🧪 #Inverts

The full body of a Histioteuthid squid. The large eye is always located on the left side of the squid (from the squids perspective, so on the right in this picture). They’re covered in photophores which can help to distinguish the specie, and usually have photophores at the tips of their arms, likely to help catch prey.

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Reposted by Ryan Howard

franz @franzanth.bsky.social · Dec 21

The party begins on Wednesday!

franz @franzanth.bsky.social · Dec 12

Greetings, chordate comrades. #InverteFest is upon us.

tl;dr: Over the last 7 days every April, August, and December, we invite you to show the internet your coolest bugs & slugs.

Go find critters, post your art, write wikipedia pages, do whatever you like to celebrate invertebrates with us!

What is #InverteFest?
It’s a periodic event where we invite you to celebrate the overlooked invertebrate fauna around you and share the joys of discovery online. #InverteFest takes place every April, August, and December over the last 7 days of the month.

Going out?
1. Find invertebrates
2. Share observations online using the hashtag #InverteFest
3. Interact with others who are celebrating the event

BONUS: Join our iNaturalist project to contribute to community science

NOT Going out?
• Post your squid painting
• Stream a game where you play as a crab with a knife
• Selfie with your 27 beetle enamel pins
• Write wikipedia pages

QUESTIONS?
ask franzanth / maureenbug / kellybrenner on iNaturalist / twitter / tumblr / instagram / bluesky

MORE INFO AND IDEAS ON: invertefest.com

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 23

😂😂

Reposted by Ryan Howard

Cephalopods Daily @cephalopodsdaily.bsky.social · Dec 22

Opalescent Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) lay their eggs in these large "mops" of eggs, which contain a bunch of egg capsules.

Each capsule can contain a couple hundred squid eggs, which seems like a lot until you see how big the squids are when they hatch!

Many Opalescent Inshore Squids (Doryteuthis opalescens) around a large mop of squid eggs. The squid are long squid shaped squids with their mantle making the majority of their length. They are somewhat silver and big eyes that almost look like googly eyes. Several squid are dead on the sea floor near the eggs. The mops are made up of many white egg capsules that resemble sausages with more tapered ends. They are almost completely a slightly translucent white, although there is a tiny brownish bit on many of their ends. Each capsule contains many eggs, upwards of 300 eggs. The mop takes up most of the frame.

A recently hatched Opalescent Inshore Squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) next to a person's finger. It is very small and is completely dwarfed by the persons finger. It appears to be only a couple of millimetres long. It is mostly transparent, with some orangish red chromatophores.

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 22

Maybe, I guess it depends on how much pressure is needed to keep the shape of the fish. But ur right, it’s probably not much.

Other fish tend to blow out their eyes (pretty horrendous) when moved from the deep to shallow water, but this is due to their air filled swim bladders…

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 22

The deflated state is less exaggerated in the toadfish and I can’t find a pale toadfish picture.

But here’s a comparison of the blobfish in and out of water. Much different.

Between deep sea and shallow water you’d like see a big difference too, because the pressure is dramatically different

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 22

He said hello. Or help.

I don’t speak fish.

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 22

How else are they supposed to express their love?!

But seriously, these fish (and many others) use negative pressure to suck surrounding water and prey into their mouths. Lips are a great way to seal their mouth once they’ve captured their prey.

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 22

However, neither species looks this deflated in their natural environment.

Because they have flabby skin, the water pressure in the deep sea keeps their shape together.

When they’re removed from that environment and pressure, their flesh sags into the shape you see before you.

#MarineLife 🧪

The face of a pale toadfish, which lays on a surface. It’s a bit deflated from the lack of water pressure holding its skin together.

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 22

This is a pale toadfish, Ambophthalmos angustus. You might have seen pictures of a deep sea blob fish that was popular a few years ago on the internet.

That species, and this fish, are both part of the Psychrolutidae family.

#MarineLife 🧪

A more dorsal view of the pale toadfish laying on a flat surface. It’s a purple-brownish color with brown mottling all over.

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

Dats what I do! 😬

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

1) Baby Sagan is a dope ass name
2) Sea stars are amazing with their spindly legs

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Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

I spend most of my time studying organisms, and there’s always some new species, or crazy mechanism that astonishes me. That’ll always be the case

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

Yea, it’s always one large bump on the aboral side. Pretty easy to spot 😊

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

That sounds like an amazing time! Tide-pooling is one of my favorite pastimes. Though I haven’t been up to far Northern California to do that yet. I’ll have to make a note for when I’m back in the Bay.

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

The littoral zone/tide pools?? They do be running things there

Ryan Howard @abyssalaquanaut.bsky.social · Dec 21

It’s so cool and unique right? I think echinoderms are the only group to have such an organ system (but don’t quote me on that! 😅)

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