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Michael Middlebrooks

@secretsluglab.bsky.social

1.1K followers 280 following 240 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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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 5d

Fantastic photo! I love it!

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 5d

That is surprising. I was able to get one at CVS in Florida, I am honestly shocked that's happening in Seattle.

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 6d

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

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 12d

Fantastic footage! I am going to have to show this to my Invertebrate Zoology class when we get to Echinoderms.

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 12d

Sports are supposed to be fun. Nothing about spending time with someone who sends that e-mail sounds fun.

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 12d

Those rhinophore are in perfect focus. Excellent photo, I love it!

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 12d

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

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 13d

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.

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 18d

That's what my sister said when I showed her the crab! 🤣

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 18d

Expert in A Dying Field is one my very favorite songs! I listened to it 50 times in a row the first time I heard it. (The rest of the album is also great).

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 19d

That is so cool! I wish I had more than one semester for teaching invertebrate zoology. I cover carcinization, but I don't have the time to get the cool nuances of it like this with my undergrads.

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 19d

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.

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 21d

Well both of the words you mentioned, but also any words that have both a "b" and a "p" in them mess me up.

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 24d

Pre-ordered and I am looking forward to it. Ray Porter is a great narrator!

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · 27d

I finally stopped having the dream where it's the end of the semester and I have to go take a final for a class I've never attended. I've switched to having a dream where I have to give a final for a class that I am supposed to be teaching but never attended...

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 27

That is surprising! Very cool!

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 27

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.

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 27

Neat! Is there a vestigial pair of legs or is it totally absent in this group?

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 21

If distracted drivers is an issue that Florida officials care actually about then its time to remove all the billboards from the highways. Until then, we know that they are just disingenuous bigots looking for an excuse to marginalize the vulnerable in our community.

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 21

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.

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 17

So cute! Do they eat the Batophora or is it just a refuge?

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 13

This is amazing! I have never seen the statocyst/apical organ before. I am going to show this to my Invertebrate Zoology course when we cover Ctenophores this semester.

Fantastic footage; thank you for sharing this!

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 12

We had the same syllabus bloat issue that you wrote about at my University. Thankfully they changed it so now we just have to include a link for the general university policies. I now have the syllabus for one of my courses down to two pages total!

Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 11

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.

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Michael Middlebrooks @secretsluglab.bsky.social · Aug 11

New song is great! I saw David Bryne a few years back and it was one of the best live shows I have ever seen. Highly recommend if you get the chance.