Michael Middlebrooks
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secretsluglab.bsky.social
Michael Middlebrooks
@secretsluglab.bsky.social
1.2K followers 290 following 280 posts
Invertebrate Zoologist, Scuba Diver, Adventurer. I teach Invertebrate Zoology at the U. of Tampa and research photosymbiosis, natural history, and ecology of sea slugs in the Secret Slug Lab. I'm interested in things. https://go.ted.com/michaelmiddlebrooks
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Reposted by Michael Middlebrooks
cltampabay.bsky.social
A group of current employees and two new partners completed the purchase on Thursday afternoon.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has been sold, and is locally-owned for the first time since 2009
A vintage Creative Loafing Tampa Bay stand in April 2020. For the first time in 18 years, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is locally-owned. On Thursday
www.cltampa.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:39 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
I've always liked Bandcamp as a platform for checking out new bands and a place to purchase music digitally. I found them really easy to work with when I was in a band. Great to see that they are doing the right thing about AI music.

www.theverge.com/news/861794/...
Bandcamp becomes the first major music platform to ban AI content
Bandcamp is banning AI-generated music and won’t allow its content to be used for training AI models.
www.theverge.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:42 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Here's the video from the manatee calf I saw nursing in Crystal River, FL.
January 10, 2026 at 6:38 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
I had a great time snorkeling with some manatees last week in Crystal River, FL. I even saw some baby manatees nursing.
#manatee
A close up underwater photograph of the face of manatee with its mouth slightly open. A picture of a young manatee underwater next to the tails of some larger manatee. A underwater photograph of a baby manatee nursing on its mother.
January 6, 2026 at 7:55 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Seen in a McDonald's parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida. A ziplock full of crabs...

🦀
A ziplock bag full of crabs on blacktop pavement.
January 5, 2026 at 7:59 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
2025 Personal Statistics:
Scuba Dives: 75
Concerts Attended: 41
No Longer Frozen Shoulders: 2
Scientific Manuscripts: 2
Scientific Presentations: 5
Books read: 37
Countries Visited: 3
Days Abroad: 45
Chocolate Smoothies: ~300
January 1, 2026 at 8:10 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Someone's getting something very special for Xmas this year. Don't tell...
December 23, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Michael Middlebrooks
invertebrates.bsky.social
GIGA VI will be in the Philippines July 6-10, 2026. We have a pre-registration survey and a survey for interest about the Genome Assembly Workshop we will be running during the meeting. Sign up to receive updates about the conference: gigavi.org
Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance VI
Global Invertebrate Genome Alliance VI, July 2026, Philippines
gigavi.org
December 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
I recognize that view milestones are a bit arbitrary, but my TED talk hit over 2 million views! Wow! I really just went to give a fun talk and was not expecting for so many people to see it. #sluglife 🦑🧪🐙

www.ted.com/talks/michae...
Michael Middlebrooks: The fantastically weird world of photosynthetic sea slugs
Meet the fantastically colorful and astonishingly adaptable sea slugs that found a way to photosynthesize (or create energy from sunlight) like plants. Diving deep into these often overlooked creature...
www.ted.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:27 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Sad to learn that Todd Snider, one of my very favorite folk singers, died last week. I am grateful I got to see him play several times. I found out from an email saying that the concert I bought tickets for had been cancelled...

Here's my favorite recording of his: youtu.be/3RWAuSdQWoM?...
Enjoy Yourself
YouTube video by Todd Snider - Topic
youtu.be
November 19, 2025 at 4:18 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Today in my Invertebrate Zoology course we are doing one of my all time favorite labs where we search through hydroid colonies to find macroinvertebrates. Here are some of my favorite finds from today!

First two hydroid feeding nudibranchs! IDs in alt text.

#invertebrates #marinebiology #sluglife
The nudibranch sea slug Doto chica. The slug is orange with white grape-like clusters of cerata down the body. The nudibranch sea slug Dondice jupiteriensis. The slug has long white oral tentacles and a yellow line down the head. The cerata are brown with white tips.
November 13, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Michael Middlebrooks
sbworkersunited.org
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.

Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Don't Buy Starbucks! At any location, today and beyond, while workers are on ULP strike!
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
We are searching for a new dean for the College of Natural and Health Sciences at the University of Tampa. If you know anyone amazing who is looking for a role like this at a great PUI please encourage them to apply!
www.academicsearch.org/UTampaCNHSDean

#academicsky
www.academicsearch.org
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
We found oyster spiders today during my oyster lab field trip for my Invertebrate Zoology class! These are marine spiders! They have special setae (hairs) that trap air and let them live underwater. #invertebrates #spider
A marine spider, Paratheuma insulana, on an oyster shell. The spider is brown with some darker brown stripes. The oyster shell is mostly white with some dirty yellow/brown edges. A marine spider, Paratheuma insulana, on an oyster shell. The spider is brown with some darker brown stripes.
November 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Some lovely nudibranchs for #seaslugday. These photos are from this summer when I was scuba diving in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. #invertebrates 🦑
An orange cladobranch nudibranch with white tips on rhinophores and tentacles. The slug has a white stripe on the body and some blue dots at the tip of the cerata. It is sitting on an orange sponge. A dorid nudibranch sea slug. The slug has a cream yellow mantle skirt with a thin black edge. The foot is white. The gills, center of the slug and rhinophores are orange. There is a wavy black line around the orange part of the center of the slug's body. A very colorful dorid nudibranch. The slug has a brown body with orange stripes. The gills and rhinophores are bright orange. There are also some yellow and blue areas around the head and tail. An adorable white dorid nudibranch. The slug has black rhinophores and yellow spots that vary in size on the dorsal part of the body. The gills are white with black trim.
October 29, 2025 at 5:31 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Here is a cool Ichthyologist position at Georgia College and State University for anyone interested: jobs.chronicle.com/job/37897075...
#academicsky
Assistant Professor - Aquatic Biology - Georgia, United States job with Georgia College and State University | 37897075
Assistant Professor - Aquatic Biology Job ID: 290720 Location: Georgia College & State Univ Full/Part Time: Full Time Regular/Temporary:...
jobs.chronicle.com
October 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
We're hiring a full time microbiology instructional staff position in the Biology at the University of Tampa. Apply if you are interested! utampa.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Staff/... #academicsky #microbiology #academicjobs
October 2, 2025 at 5:24 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
After several attempts I bought some concert tickets from AXS. It is mindboggling that they have managed to make an app and website that is somehow worse to use than Ticketmaster. It's criminal that these companies charge us "convenience/service" fees on their janky apps.
#concert #livemusic
September 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
I'm so excited to see @puddlespityparty.bsky.social open for Weird Al tonight! The last Puddles show I went to was pure magic. (That's me with Puddles!)
Michael Middlebrooks, a man with glass and long hair, sitting below a large singing clown on some stairs in an auditorium. The clown has on a white clown suit with black trim and is wearing a small golden crown.
September 25, 2025 at 2:12 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
We had one of my favorite crabs in the invertebrate teaching lab today! This is Dromidia sp. a carrier crab. Their last pair of legs is modified to carry sponges and other animals as a defensive mechanism. This one is carrying a colonial tunicate. #invertebrates 🦑🦀
A cute carrier crab in an aquarium. The crab is red with large claws and is carrying a white colonial tunicate on its back.
September 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Two for one invertebrates for #InverteFest. Here is the nudibranch Hypselodoris tryoni, in Komodo Indonesia, where you can see the purple eggs of a parasitic copepod sticking out from the slug's gill pocket.
#sluglife #nudibranch🧪🦑
A yellow nudibranch see slug with dark purple spots. The spots have a white border around them. The slugs' mantle is has a purple edge. In the gills of the slug you can see some purple parasitic copepod eggs sticking out.
August 27, 2025 at 7:17 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
Last night the state of Florida painted over the crosswalk at the Pulse nightclub memorial in Orlando under the guise of road safety. They claim that rainbow crosswalks are distracting to drivers.
August 21, 2025 at 5:41 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
One of my favorite snails, the velutinid Coriocella nigra! Velutinid snails have an internal shell so they often get mistaken for slugs or other organisms. I saw this one while scuba diving in Komodo National Park, Indonesia last month. #molluscmonday #snail #invertebrate #komodo #indonesia 🦑
A photograph of the velutinid snail Coriocella nigra. The snail does not have a visible shell because it is covered by the mantle. The snail is velvety black green in color and has five large lobes on the dorsal side plus a siphon sticking forward which looks similar to the lobe. The snail is sitting on some red calcareous algae next to some orange coral polyps which are retracted.
August 11, 2025 at 6:53 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
I spent some time today looking a this cool little flatworm under the microscope. I love the orange band! Anyone know who this is? #invertebrate #flatworm 🦑
A small flatworm photographed under the microscope. The flatworm has two small eye spots towards the head and a bright orange band in the middle of the its body.
August 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
secretsluglab.bsky.social
This hermit crab may have been a bit ambitious with the choice of shell. #hermit #crustacean #invertebrate #Indonesia #Komodo 🦑 🦀
A small red hermit crab poking out of a shell that is way too large for it. The crab has black eyes and is sitting in the sand.
August 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM