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Danna Staaf

@dannastaaf.bsky.social

1.8K followers 210 following 1.2K posts

https://www.dannastaaf.com/ Author, artist, speaker with a fondness for cephalopods. Books: 🦑 Monarchs of the Sea 👩‍🔬 The Lady and the Octopus 🐣 Nursery Earth 🐙 The Lives of Octopuses and Their Relatives Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/dannastaaf

www.dannastaaf.com

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Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · Jan 27

this may be the pinnacle of my science communication career

How to make a cephalopod. (With cartoony drawings)
1. Remove limbs. (Smiling human with dotted lines at shoulders and hips)
2. Attach to lips. (Human with flat mouth expression, just head and torso. Arms and legs are floating above with arrows pointing from them to lips)
3. See? It works. (Smiling human cephalopod with arms and legs around mouth. Drawing of an octopus shows anatomical similarity.)

Reposted by Danna Staaf

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology @sicb.bsky.social · 4h

#WorldOctopusDay 2025- Takotsubo and #Optic Glands: The Poetic Deaths of #Octopuses
with our flagship journal ICB author Z.Yan Wang
blog by Colleen Heck

learn more about the extraordinary circumstances of this species death
integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2025/10/08/w...

#science

Reposted by Danna Staaf

Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 12h

I love cooloola monsters but let’s be honest this is an antipodean stenopelmatid. Ninos de la Terra Nullius en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammopel...

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 12h

I wish I could re-follow you just for this

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 12h

Per my daughter's request, the #Inktober #invertober2025 #SpacetoberChallenge mashup now includes #OC_tober 😁
I'm actually ridiculously proud of this one 🌊🧑‍🚀

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 12h

it's baby 🥹

Dr Perry Beasley-Hall @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 13h

Cooloola monsters are weird, chunky insects endemic to South East Queensland, Australia. They're probably related to king crickets (Anostostomatidae), but not much is known about their evolution. The wingless females live permanently underground. #EverydayEnsifera

📸: Visit Gympie Region

A pale insect with tiny eyes digging underground. It looks almost like a fat potato with legs.

Source: https://www.visitgympieregion.com.au/great-experiences/wildlife/

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 1d

A quick doodle mashup today for #Inktober #Invertober2025 #SpacetoberChallenge

Small pen on paper drawing of a moth with its wings folded. The left wing has two piercings. The dark parts of both wings are decorated with patterns like constellations in a night sky. You know, if you squint.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 1d

Hehe thank you

Reposted by Danna Staaf

Janne M. Korhonen @jmkorhonen.fi · 2d

This is most definitely *not* the lesser of any two weevils

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 2d

Sure we've all seen the man, and the rabbit...but have you ever seen the palmetto weevil in the moon? It's kind of murky 😆 #invertober2025 #inktober #SpacetoberChallenge

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 2d

😂🤣

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 2d

Sometimes the prompts are unexpectedly compatible. I'd never realized before that lobsters, spacecraft, and deer ALL have antennae! #Inktober #invertober2025 #SpacetoberChallenge

Black pen on paper drawing of a deer and a lobster riding in the dish of the Voyager spacecraft. The lobster's antennae are tangled with the antlers of the deer, who looks disgruntled.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 2d

Sure we've all seen the man, and the rabbit...but have you ever seen the palmetto weevil in the moon? It's kind of murky 😆 #invertober2025 #inktober #SpacetoberChallenge

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 2d

Catch-up day 3 of #Inktober #invertober2025 #SpacetoberChallenge

Black pen on paper drawing of a bedazzled anemone with swirling streaks in the background. Prompts are written below: "crown/giant green anemone/space weather."

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 4d

Ah that's so cool! Thank you!!

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 5d

good news, if you're stuck on the prompts you can just add another one! #Inktober #Invertober #SpacetoberChallenge

A simple ink-on-paper drawing of a leafhopper weaving string into a ring around a planet. The prompts "weave/red-banded leafhopper/planet" are written below the drawing.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 5d

I just couldn't stop thinking about how weird sperm whale mouths are and yet how perfectly shaped for inserting giant squid into

A scanned pencil sketch of a faceoff between a giant squid and a sperm whale. The squid looks cute and alarmed and its mantle is labeled TAB A. The whale looks cute and happy and its mouth is labeled SLOT A. Tab A does look like it would fit perfectly in slot A. The squid says "I strongly disagree with this diagram" and the whale responds "You can't disagree with evolution."

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 5d

this is a beautiful observation, made even more beautiful by the near-vindictive joy of your announcement 😆🎉

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 5d

Promise I won't take pictures of ALL the cephs, but this baby enope is a delight. "They have a couple of years before they have to take on their adult responsibilities, like avoiding being eaten by sperm whales." 🤣 (and now I am distracted because I remembered I drew a sperm whale recently...)

Photo of a page of THE RADIANT SEA, with a beautiful photograph of a sharp-eared enope squid, Ancistrocheirus lesueurii. It's a juvenile with just a few chromatophores and very cute. The caption includes the quotation in the skeet.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 5d

The introduction also encourages readers to look at all the pictures first, so naturally I'm going for cephalopods. In Chapter 1, glass squids AND glass octopuses get well-deserved mentions.
I can't handle it when squid arms are shorter than their eyestalks...like WHAT even are those. Decorations.

Photo of a page of THE RADIANT SEA with a beautiful image of a Cranchiid, or glass squid, and accompanying text. The squid is mostly transparent, with small stomach and gills visible inside its mantle and a brain visible inside its head. Its two eyes stick out on long stalks and its arms are very tiny, maybe a quarter the length of the eyestalks. Its two feeding tentacles are a reasonable length.

Photo of a page of THE RADIANT SEA with a lovely photograph of a glass octopus, Vitreledonella richardi. It is translucent, with a single row of suckers on its rather thick arms.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 5d

So keen to read THE RADIANT SEA by @stevehaddock.bsky.social & Sönke Johnsen! In the introduction, @helenscales.bsky.social says it's like having the authors "looking over your shoulder and telling stories," an experience I've been lucky enough to get with Steve. Also, COVER CEPHALOPOD 🐙🦑🌊

Photo of the cover of THE RADIANT SEA: COLOR AND LIGHT IN THE UNDERWATER WORLD by Steven Haddock and Sonke Johnsen, Foreword by Helen Scales.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 6d

It's a mustache medusa! I'm mashing up the #inktober and #invertober prompts this year 😁 #invertober2025

Simple black ink drawing of a sea nettle jelly, except the bell is shaped like a mustache. I tried to draw this four times before it finally came out acceptable.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 6d

I love the way you created it in this medium!!

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 6d

Me encanta esa medusa y no sabía lo del colagen!

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 6d

My least favorite part of freelance life has been a) learning about indemnity clauses, b) pushing back against them, and c) hearing "no one else has a problem with it" 😩
Very soothing to spend an hour with folks in the same boat. Thanks to speaker Dawn Fallik and organizer @ellenkuwana.bsky.social!

National Association of Science Writers (NASW) @sciencewriters.org · 7d

Would you like to learn more about the art of contract negotiation? Join us for today's #SciWriSkillsChat at 1 pm ET hosted by the Freelance Committee and featuring Dawn Fallik.

Link for today's event: www.nasw.org/events/...

Not a member yet? Visit nasw.org/join

Negotiating fair contracts

Dawn Fallik, a journalism professor and freelance investigative reporter, will share practical tips on contract negotiation. She’ll offer examples of predatory terms to watch out for and examples of specific language you might consider.

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 7d

Thank you so much for putting this together! It's a delight! Would you be willing to change #14 to "Sand striker"? I learned from this blog that it's a preferable name (plus more informative about the nature of the worm itself):
deepseanews.com/2019/02/this...

This marine worm is called the Sand Striker | Deep Sea News

TRIGGER WARNING This article or section, or pages it links to, contains information about sexual assault and/or violence which may be triggering to survivors. Marine scientists, we have made a mistake...

deepseanews.com

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 7d

SO excited for this! My daughter asked me to do Inktober with her this year, so I decided I'll combine the two prompt lists. 😁

Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · 11d

The Invertober prompt list for 2025 is HERE! If you’re looking for an invert-themed art prompt list for the month of October, here it is 🦀🪲🐚💕 #sciart #invertober #invertober2025

Invertober 2025
1. Japanese sea nettle (Chrysaora pacifica)
2. Red-banded leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea)
3. Giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica)
4. Palmetto weevil (Rhynchophorus cruentatus)
5. Painted spiny lobster (Panulirus versicolor)
6. Buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala)
7. Scaly foot gastropod (Chrysomallon squamiferum)
8. Bee-killer robber fly (Mallophora fautrix)
9. Flamboyant cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi)
10. Common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris)
11. Dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus)
12. Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula)
13. Banded sugar ant (Camponotus consobrinus)
14. Bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois)
15. Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing
(Ornithoptera alexandrae)
‪16. Giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus) ‬
17. Blue-lined flatworm (Pseudoceros concinnus)
18. Black & yellow mud dauber (Sceliphron caementarium)
19. Vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis)
20. By-the-wind sailor (Velella velella)
21. Flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata)
22. Sea angel (Clione limacina)
23. Pink sand dunes tiger beetle (Cicindela albissima)
24. New Zealand mussel (Perna canaliculus)
25. House centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata)
26. Sea bunny (Jorunna parva)
27. American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
28. Pearly green lacewing (Chrysopa perla)
29. Red sea urchin (Mesocentrotus franciscanus)
30. Christmas beetle (Anoplognathus pallidicollis)
31. Death’s-head hawk moth (Acherontia atropos)