Week Eighteen (Final Post): Jaguar

Common Name: Jaguar

Scientific Name: Panthera onca

Fun Fact: The Aztecs both feared and admired the jaguar. One of their elite warrior units was named for the animal, and the black jaguar was also the symbol of one of their most important gods, the darkly powerful Texcatlipoca.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Panthera

Species: P. onca

Description: Jaguars are stocky and muscular cats with heavyset features. Their fur is golden-brown and may contain hints of red. Their bodies are covered in black rings and spots. The all-black variety associated Texcatlipoca is quite common and is known as melanism—somewhat of an opposite to albinism. Jaguars may grow to around six feet in length with an additional thirty inches of tail and weigh 264 pounds. They are similar in appearance to their Old World cousins the leopards, but they are found exclusively in the Americas and are shorter and stockier in build.

Environment: Jaguars are native to South and Central America and are the largest of the New World cats. Their preferred habitat varies from forest to semi-desert but must include a nearby area of water for drinking and swimming. Poaching and habitat destruction have restricted the range of these animals.

Reproduction & Development: Jaguars reproduce sexually and females give birth to litters of 1-4 live cubs after a gestation of 93-105 days. The mother cares for her litter by herself; the cubs are weaned by about six months of age and become sexually mature at two to four years. Jaguars can live for up to 24 years.

Nutrition: Jaguars are carnivorous predators at the top of the food chain. Despite their skill at swimming, they mainly hunt on land. Their preferred prey includes various medium-sized herbivorous mammals such as peccaries, capybaras, and tapirs. Jaguars do make exceptions to the rule of terrestrial meat; they may catch fish and have even been known to kill and eat crocodiles.

 

Week Seventeen: Vegetable Caterpillar Fungus

Common Name: Vegetable Caterpillar, Caterpillar Fungus, Awheto (Maori)

Scientific Name: Cordyceps robertsii

Fun Fact: The indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori, burned the fungus stalks for charcoal, which they used to draw decorative patterns on their skin. They also used it as a food source.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Fungi

Phylum: Ascomycota

Class: Sordariomycetes

Order: Hypocreales

Family: Clavicipitaceae

Genus: Cordyceps

Species: C. robertsii

Description: Vegetable Caterpillar is a fungus that parasitizes the larvae of several species of moths. Vegetable Caterpillar encases the caterpillar in a cocoon that has been described as mummy-like. This so-called mummification slowly kills the insect larva as the fungus takes over its body, leaving it a hollow shell swathed in its predator. The fruiting body of the fungus is 2-3 mm in diameter and may be 20 cm tall.  To the casual observer, it may look like a small brown stem pushing up through leaf detritus.

Environment: This fungus is native to New Zealand and preys exclusively upon a variety of moth species also native to the islands. It infects its prey while the potential host is living on the soil as a larva. The host eats the almost imperceptibly small spores of the fungus and is therefore infected.

Reproduction & Development: After the host is infected, the fungus eats it from the inside out. Once the caterpillar is dead, the fungus sprouts a fruiting body from the neck of its host, which punches through any decaying plant matter on the ground to form a tall stalk. This fruiting body sprays new spores in all directions, allowing the cycle to begin again.

Nutrition: This fungus is a parasitic heterotroph, which means that it must eat a living host to survive. The nutrients the fungus steals from its host allow it to grow and produce reproductive spores.

 

Week Seventeen: Giardia

Common Name: Giardia

Scientific Name: Giardia lamblia or alternately G. intestinalis

Not-So-Fun Fact: Giardia is a parasite and is responsible for the contagious waterborne infection known as giardiasis. Giardiasis causes a number of delightfully messy and painful gastrointestinal problems before being fought off after a few weeks, though some symptoms may linger long after the initial infection.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Protista

Phylum: Sarcomastigophora

Class: Zoomastigophora

Order: Diplomonadida

Genus: Giardia

Species: G. lamblia

Description: Giardia is a microbial organism spread through contaminated water that severe gastrointestinal problems such as fatigue and malaise, abdominal cramps and bloating, frequent and noxious belching, nausea, weight loss, and diarrhea. Symptoms begin after one to two weeks and usually last from two to four weeks.

Environment: Giardia is spread in water contaminated by feces laced with the microbe. Victims usually contract the disease by drinking improperly purified or completely untreated water or by coming into direct contact with infected stool. Giardia lingers in the intestines until it is killed off or becomes dormant.

Reproduction & Development: The life of the giardia is split into two parts, called the trophozoite and cyst phases. The cysts are ingested and release freely swimming trophozoites which adhere to the intestinal lining and then undergo asexual reproduction by binary fission. It is the cyst that later forms from the trophozoite after a presently unknown trigger that is spread from host to host.

Nutrition: Giardia is a parasitic heterotroph, which means it ingests nutrients by feeding off of its host. The organism steals food from the intestine of its host and damages the tissue around it, causing the symptoms of the disease.

Week Sixteen: Lionfish

Common Name: Red Lionfish, Zebra fish, Turkey fish

Scientific Name: Pterois volitans

Not-So-Fun Fact: The beautiful fins of the lionfish hide extremely venomous spines used to deter predators and capture prey. However, contact with the spines can also be dangerous to human swimmers and it is extremely inadvisable to touch or handle a lionfish.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Scorpaeniformes

Family: Scorpaenidae

Genus: Pterois

Species: P. volitans

Description: The red lionfish is a brightly colored animal with contrasting bands of red and white covering its entire body. Its fins are very ornate and conceal sharp, venomous spines. Its coloration also gives it the common name zebra fish. The fanlike spread of its elaborate pectoral fins give it the name turkey fish. Red lionfish usually reach a size between 15-30 centimeters as adults; the largest individual ever caught and recorded was a stunning 43 centimeters in size.

Environment: The red lionfish is native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It has recently been introduced to the United States Atlantic coast and is especially problematic around the coast of Florida. The lionfish is an invasive species and is a factor in the endangered status of many species of marine life in the area. Lionfish prefer tropical ocean waters.

Reproduction & Development: Lionfish reproduce sexually by externally fertilization. This is a common practice among fish and involves females excreting ova into the water, which are then fertilized by the males’ excreted sperm cells. While solitary for most of the year, in the breeding season lionfish females are herded into harem-like groups by aggressive males. The 2,000 to 15,000 eggs hatch with the aid of marine microbes 36 hours after being fertilized and the lionfish infants become capable swimmers and predators after two to three days.

Nutrition: Lionfish are heterotrophic predators and feed on small fish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine life of a similar size. Because of the recent nature of their invasion into Florida waters, it is unsure yet whether lionfish competition will be detrimental to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

Week Fifteen: Malaria

Common Name: Malaria

Scientific Name: Plasmodium vivax

Not-So-Fun Fact: The plasmodium protist is the organism responsible for the infection known as malaria. Once a human host is infected with the disease via a mosquito bite, he or she may experience symptoms for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, the vegetable extract quinine acts as a preventative medication against infection.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Protista

Phylum: Sporozoa

Class: Sporozoasida

Order: Eucoccidiorida

Family: Plasmodiidae

Genus: Plasmodium

Species: P. vivax

Environment: Plasmodium circulates throughout the body of a mosquito and is injected into a human host’s bloodstream by using the mosquito’s contaminated saliva as a vehicle. The protist inserts itself inside the host’s red blood cells and there wreaks havoc upon its host’s body. Malaria is most common in the tropics, especially sub-Saharan Africa.

Description: The Plasmodium vivax protist infects almost five hundred million people around the world and kills one million of its victims every year. The best defenses against catching malaria are sleeping under bed nets in areas at risk for the disease and taking quinine drugs regularly. Symptoms of malaria include fever, chills, fatigue, headache, sweating, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Reproduction & Development: A mosquito must be infected by male and female Plasmodia to continue the life cycle of its resident parasite. Inside the insect’s body, the Plasmodia sexually reproduce. Their offspring make their way to the saliva of their host and are carried into a human bloodstream, where they asexually reproduce via binary fission and spread throughout the body. From here they attempt to circulate around the superficial blood vessels until they are picked up by new mosquitoes, mate, and begin the life cycle again.

Nutrition: Like its fellow members of phylum Sporozoa, Plasmodium is a parasitic heterotroph, which means that it feeds off of the tissues and bodily fluids of its host to survive and cannot make its own food. Plasmodium cannot perform photosynthesis.

Week Fourteen: Nettle

Common Name: Stinging Nettle

Scientific Name: Urtica  dioica

Not-So-Fun Fact: Stinging nettles are named for their agonizing properties. Simply brushing up against one of these plants releases a variety of acids that cause terrible pain akin to the a hundred tiny barbed needles being rammed forcefully into one small patch of skin. The author has personally been the victim of this particular plant while hiking and can state this as a first-hand account.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Rosales

Family: Urticaceae

Genus: Urtica

Species: U. dioica

Description: The stinging nettle is perhaps the most well-known and well-hated of its family. It is an emerald green perennial herb that grows during the summer to a height of around three feet and blissfully dies back again each winter. The agent of the nettle’s painful poison is a series of almost invisible urticating hairs on the undersides of the leaves and on the stem of the plant. Each of these injects a cocktail of formic, oxalic, and tartaric acids. These compounds are found in bee and ant stings and bites, used by other irritating vegetables, and act as a muscle toxin, respectively.

Environment: Stinging nettles can be found in almost any habitat that supplies their preferred nutritional needs within the regions of the United States and northern Europe.

Reproduction & Development: As stated above, the nettle is a perennial plant that grows during the summer and dies back during the winter. It is also a flowering plant whose pale green blossoms form small clusters on the stem. The nettle reproduces either by self-pollination between male and female flowers or by sexual reproduction with others of its species. Once pollinated, a small fruit grows briefly around the seed before shriveling and allowing the seed to be blown off of its parent by the wind.

Nutrition: This nettle’s main condition for growth is an environment featuring moist soil. The author personally encountered the plant growing next to a small stream and surrounded by lushly growing grasses. It was likely also enjoying the contributions of the sheep roaming nearby, though we must not blame the lambs for the existence of the nettle. This plant requires sunlight and nutrients from the soil as well as water.

 

Week Thirteen: Foxglove

Common Name: Purple Foxglove, Witch's Gloves
Scientific Name: Digitalis purpurea

Actually Fun Fact (but only if your heart is failing): Foxglove, while extremely poisonous and irritating to most people, can be synthesized into the drug digitalis, which helps treat congestive heart failure by the same method the plant uses to damage healthy cardiovascular symptoms. Digitalis increases the strength of each heartbeat, which is dangerous and potentially deadly to most people but is helpful to patients with a weak heartbeat.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Lamiales

Family: Scrophulariaceae

Genus: Digitalis

Species: D. purpurea

Description: Foxglove is a low-growing biennial prized for its beautiful towering branches of white and pale violet flowers, which sprout over rosettes of hairy ovoid leaves. This organism is highly poisonous, causing rashes and blisters if touched. Any part of the plant if ingested can cause stomachache, nausea, delirium, tremors, convulsions, headache, and disruption of the heart.

Environment: Foxglove is native to Europe, though it has been introduced to the Americas, especially the Pacific Northwest. Foxglove prefers rich loam soil but can survive in less nutritious earth as well and is often found in rocky terrain or even in crumbling stone walls. This organism generally favors shady woodland environments.

Reproduction & Development: Foxglove’s famed blossoms live for approximately six days after sprouting from two- to five-foot-tall green stems in the plant’s second year of life. After this final second year, the plant dies, but not before being pollinated and producing new seeds for offspring.

Nutrition: Foxglove is a vascular plant and draws nutrients and water from the soil in which it grows. The leaves of the plant perform photosynthesis and draw energy from the sun.

 

Week Twelve: Nightshade

Common Name: Deadly Nightshade, Belladonna, Devil's Cherry
Scientific Name: Atropa belladonna

Not-So-Fun Fact: All parts of the nightshade plant contain the poison alkaloid atropine and the organism has been known to be deadly since ancient times. The genus name, Atropa, stems from the ancient Greek belief in three goddesses, or Fates, who controlled all human destiny by spinning the thread of life. The goddess Atropos was the Fate whose duty it was to cut the thread of life and therefore bring death to her subject.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Solanales

Family: Solanaceae

Genus: Atropa

Species: A. belladonna

Description: Belladonna is a perennial herb that grows to about three feet in height and sprouts pointed ovoid leaves. Even the leaves and stems of the plant produce pus-filled blisters on the skin if touched, and ingestion of the shining, swollen black berries is almost always fatal, though in very small quantities the victim survives the agonizing effects. Symptoms of belladonna poisoning include dilation of the pupils, increased heartbeat, confusion, hallucinations, seizures, and death.

Environment: Belladonna is found over most of Europe, Asia, and North America. European settlers arriving in the Americas were at first distrustful of the similar-looking but fortunately harmless tomato, a fellow member of the Solanaceae family. Belladonna prefers shady, perennially damp plots in which to grow.

Reproduction & Development: Belladonna reproduces sexually. In the spring, purple-brown flowers similar to those of a petunia bloom. Over the summer, small, hard green berries engorge and become bright red, finally fading to black by autumn.

Nutrition: Like all vascular plants, belladonna requires water from the soil and uses photosynthesis to produce energy in its leaves from the sun.

Week Eleven: Chigger Mite

Common Name: Chigger Mite

Scientific Name: Leptotrombidium sp.

Not-So-Fun Fact: Chigger mites transmit scrub typhus, which is also referred to colloquially as tsutsugamushi fever and scientifically as Orientia tsutsugamushi. Symptoms of scrub typhus begin as influenza-like but eventually cause fatal damage to the cardiovascular system, the lungs, and the kidneys if left untreated.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Acari

Family: Trombiculidae

Genus: Leptotrombidium

Description: The chigger mite is an ovoid arachnid so small that its sharp mouth cannot penetrate the skin far enough to suck directly from a blood vessel (for the actual mode of feeding, see Nutrition). This is a quite different organism from its harmless though irritating cousin the harvest mite, which in the United States is often referred to as a chigger.

Environment: Chigger mites inhabit low, damp grass and woodland areas in Asia, Australia, and the surrounding island archipelagos. During World War II, soldiers fighting in these areas were extremely susceptible to scrub typhus because their clothes were impossible to fully seal against the depredations of the mites and because of the necessity of marching through fields of tall kunai grass, a favorite haunt of the chigger mite.

Reproduction & Development: Chigger mites reproduce sexually and lay eggs. The larva of the chigger mite ingests one blood meal in its short childhood before molting and becoming an adult. The reason the chigger larva is able to pass on scrub typhus while only feeding once is that chiggers are capable of a process called “transovarial transmission.” In this process, the adult female becomes infected with the disease and passes it on to her unborn offspring, producing larvae born infected with scrub typhus.

Nutrition: The chigger mite’s single blood meal is made through a tiny feeding tube, which pokes minutely through the skin, liquefies the surrounding tissue, and sucks up this mixture of blood and fluid flesh. The irritation around a chigger bite comes mainly from its sloppy habit of leaving behind the feeding tube. The adult feeds entirely on plants and causes no harm to any animal except through its potentially diseased progeny.

 

Week Ten: West Nile Virus

Common Name: West Nile Virus

Scientific Name: Flavivirus, West Nile Virus type

Not-So-Fun Fact: There is no current vaccine to protect the public against West Nile virus, though scientists are hoping that they will soon be able to create one.

Taxonomy: It is contested among the scientific community exactly how viruses should be classified, because many scientists do not consider them to be proper organisms. Below is the taxonomic classification after the general grouping of Virus:

Class: Class 4 ssRNA positive-sense viruses

Order: The family flaviviridae has not been assigned to a specific order yet.

Family: Flaviviridae

Genus: Flavivirus

Environment: West Nile Virus is carried by mosquitoes, and other hosts susceptible to the virus include humans and various birds. This virus is prevalent in Africa, the Middle East, parts of Asia, and since 1999, in the continental United States.

Description: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that seventy to eighty percent of people infected with West Nile Virus never experience symptoms. Those who do are divided into two groups based on the severity of their illness. Twenty percent of those infected experience this milder but still temporarily debilitating set, which includes aching of the head and body, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and a rash. The general weakness or malaise of this type can last for weeks or even months after the initial onset of disease, though these victims are far more fortunate than the severe cases. This latter group can develop the swelling and inflammation of the brain and spinal tissues known as encephalitis and meningitis.

Reproduction & Development: West Nile Virus is spread between humans, other mammals, and birds only via the bite of a mosquito. Once inside its host, it spreads between cells, invading each and copying itself using cellular material until it bursts out and spreads again throughout the body. If another mosquito feeds on the host, it may contract the infection itself and continue to spread the parasite.

Nutrition: West Nile Virus is a parasite. It attacks its host cells and steals nutrients and water to survive, in the process severely damaging or in rare cases even killing the host.

 

Week Nine: Lily (Not Me)

Common Name: Easter Lily, Bermuda Lily

Scientific Name: Lilium longiflorum

Not-So-Fun Fact: Yes, even my namesake can be poisonous. All parts of the lily plant are highly poisonous to cats. Symptoms are experienced over twenty-four to forty-eight hours and slide from kidney failure to death.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Order: Liliiales

Family: Liliaceae

Genus: Lilium

Species: L. longiflorum

Taxonomical note: Most cultivated Easter lilies are the variant called “Nellie White” and are named after the wife of the grower who bred them.

Description: The most striking feature of the Easter lily is its large, white, trumpet-shaped flowers, which feature bright yellow anthers. In Christianity, the lily is often used as a symbol for Mary, mother of Jesus, and lilies are often used as symbols of purity and happiness.

Environment: Easter lilies are native to Japan, specifically the Ryukyu islands at the southern end of the great archipelago. In 1819, the species was introduced to the British Isles, and in 1853 it was introduced to the island of Bermuda. Lilies thrive best in habitats with nutrient-rich soil and mild temperatures year-round.

Reproduction & Development: Lilies are angiosperms, or flowering plants. They grow from bulbs and naturally bloom in summer, although many plants are artificially forced to bloom in spring using greenhouse temperature and artificial lighting. To bloom, bulbs require a thousand hours’ worth of exposure to cold, damp air. Lilies reproduce sexually through the classic model of pollination, though they may also sprout as bulblets on the subterraneous stems of their parent plants.

Nutrition: The University of Vermont recommends bright but indirect sunlight on Easter lilies, and warns the readers of its article on the subject not to overly water their plants; watering when the soil feels dry is recommended. Lilies take in water and nutrients through their roots in the soil and perform photosynthesis in their broad, dark green leaves.

Week Eight: Dwarf Mistletoe

Common Name: Dwarf Mistletoe

Scientific Name: Arceuthobium sp.

Fun Fact: Dwarf mistletoe fruits each contain a single bullet-shaped seed. As the fruit grows, tension tightens on the seed and eventually it flies outward, shooting toward a new host at up to 56 miles per hour. The dwarf mistletoe embryo, it can be said, is a feisty youth.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Santalales

Family: Viscaceae

Genus: Arceuthobium

Description: Dwarf mistletoe is a different genus than its better-known and also parasitic relative. The plant itself is as small yellow structure that latches onto the branches of conifer trees, its natural host. Almost all species of conifer tree are vulnerable to infection except for cedar and juniper, which can be colonised by the dwarf’s relative, true mistletoe. Signs of infection in host trees include swelling of the bark, the visible yellow shoots, and branch growth said to be shaped like a “witch’s broom.” Eventually, the host tree will begin to die from the top down until branches, trunk, and roots all are dry husks.

Environment: Dwarf mistletoe is found in conifer forests in all of southern Canada, Alaska, the western United States from Texas to Washington State, and the northern states from Maine to Minnesota and down to Pennsylvania.

Reproduction & Development:  In accordance with the Fun Fact, dwarf mistletoe produces fruits containing small, sticky projectile seeds capable of flying 56 miles per hour and landing 50 feet from their original position. Once on a new host tree, the plant establishes itself as a parasite (see Nutrition) and is visible within two to four years of infecting the tree. After one to two more years, the plant is sexually mature and begins to fruit.

Nutrition: Dwarf mistletoe has little to no chlorophyll of its own, and therefore cannot perform photosynthesis to a degree sufficient to feed itself. This is why it is forced to parasitize conifers. The plant injects parasitic roots called “hautoria” into the branches of its host. These structures leech nutrients from the vascular tissue of the host tree until the tree dies.

 

Week Seven: Scabies Mite

Common Name: Scabies mite

Scientific Name: Sarcoptes scabiei var. Hominis

Not-So-Fun Fact : Scabies, the condition caused by this organism, is an excruciatingly uncomfortable disease characterized by irritation, rash, and itching. Napoleon Bonaparte, a victim of the disease, was often so overcome with the itching that his soldiers would think that he had been wounded terribly in battle. In fact, he had been scratching at his terrible rash. Writing and researching this entry by itself is making me feel awfully itchy.

Domain : Eukaryota

Kingdom : Animalia

Phylum : Arthropoda

Class : Arachnida

Family : Sarcoptidae

Genus : Sarcoptes

Species : S. scabiei

Subspecies: variant hominis

Description: The organism responsible for scabies is a very small, fat, short-legged mite. A scabies mite grows up to 0.45 millimeters, with its body vastly larger in proportion to its minuscule head and stubby legs.

Environment: The scabies mite spends its entire life either underneath or crawling along the surface of its host’s skin.

Reproduction & Development: The scabies mite reproduces sexually and lives for up to two months. After mating just once, the female moves into the skin of its human host and begins to lay eggs subcutaneously. Once her larvae hatch, they go through a series of stages as a nymph in the upper layers of the host’s skin. Once they reach their adult forms, the mites continue the mating cycle, with pregnant females migrating along the outer surface of the host in order to find a new dwelling.

Nutrition: Scabies mites are parasites which feed on the blood of their host. This particular variant feeds on the blood of humans. The rash and irritation associated with scabies actually results from the presence of the mites themselves, along with their excretions.

 

 

 

Week Six: Blue-Ringed Octopus

Common Name: Blue-Ringed Octopus

Scientific Name: Hapalochlaena lunulata

Not-So-Fun Fact: The blue-ringed octopus carries an extremely venomous bite caused by colonies of bacteria in its saliva which produce a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin. Tetrodotoxin prevents sodium from being transported across membranes in the brain and can kill those exposed in less than an hour.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

Order: Octopoda

Family: Octopodidae

Genus: Hapalochlaena

Species: H. lunulata

Description: The blue-ringed octopus is a small octopus with bright yellow skin covered in blue circular markings. Its vivid coloration warns potential attackers of its extremely venomous bite. The greater blue-ring’s mantle can grow up to 55 millimeters, but a more average length for adult individuals is 25 to 40 millimeters. The skin is covered in pebbly papillae. When agitated, the yellow hue of the octopus’s skin deepens to golden brown; the blue rings thicken, brighten, and may pulsate; and the papillae become smooth.

Environment: The greater blue-ringed octopus is native to the Indian and Pacific oceans, and inhabits a range stretching from Sri Lanka to northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Visitors to Australian beaches are put at risk by the presence, and a few fatalities are reported each year as a result of bites or extended contact with the octopi.

Reproduction & Development: This organism reproduces sexually, and the mating process is a very long and close process. The females lay eggs whose gestations last about two months, the total time depending on temperature. Their offspring become sexually mature after about four months and usually live for about eighteen months. During gestation, the eggs are held by the female’s long tentacles and kept close to her body.

Nutrition: The blue-ringed octopus is a very small predator, and normally feeds on small crabs, hermit crabs, and shrimp dwelling near the shore. They eat such crustaceans by attacking them, wrapping their bodies around them, and puncturing their carapaces with their sharp, venomous beaks.

 

Week Five: Datura

Common Name: Datura, Jamestown Weed, Angel's Trumpet, Devil's Apple, Thorn Apple

Scientific Name: Datura stramonium


Not-So-Fun Fact: Datura is highly poisonous. During an uprising in the late seventeenth century in the then-colony of Virginia, colonial rebels contaminated the authoritarian soldiers’ food with the hallucinatory plant to incapacitate them and render them clinically insane for more than a week. While the rebellion itself failed, this ploy succeeded, with horrifying results.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Solanales

Family: Solanaceae

Genus: Datura

Species: D. stramonium

Description: Datura is a small, pretty plant with a woody stem and broad, weedy leaves. The plant can grow to two to three feet in height and is studded with flowers and seedpods described in fuller detail under Reproduction & Development. All parts of datura, especially the seeds are poisonous, and contain tropane alkaloids that if ingested cause fever, hallucinations, seizures, madness, brain damage, coma, and death.

Environment: Datura is native to Central America, but is found in most parts of the southern United States. The plant prefers a warm temperate to tropical climate. British settlers in the Americas first encountered datura when they attempted to eat the weeds found on Jamestown Island, and later the horrific poison was used against the Loyalist authorities in the rebellion of the late 1600s.

Reproduction & Development: Datura is a flowering plant which produces long, trumpet-shaped blossoms in white or violet. These later give way to small, egg-shaped green seedpods whose protective casings give it the nickname “thorn apple”. The seedpods split open to release the many highly toxic seeds. The unfortunate 1607 settlers found the plant rather plentiful on Jamestown.

Nutrition: Datura relies on sunlight, water, and soil nutrients to survive, as is usual among plants. It can thrive in most warm conditions, from the dry southwest to the swampy Virginia eastern habitats so beloved by mosquitoes.

 

Week Four: Bull Shark

Common Name: Bull Shark

Scientific Name: Carcharhinus leucas


Not-So-Fun Fact: Bull sharks are placed among the most dangerous sharks in the world, next to tiger sharks and great whites, because of their high aggression. It has been postulated that this is because of increased levels of testosterone in the shark’s body in comparison to other fish. An important fact to be considered, of course, is that shark attacks, let alone fatalities, are very rare: it has been estimated that it is more likely for a person to be killed by a collapsing vending machine than for that person to be the victim of a fatal shark attack.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichthyes

Order: Carcharhiniformes

Family: Carcharhinidae

Genus: Carcharhinus

Species: C. leucas

Description: Bull sharks are heavyset, extremely powerful sharks. They can measure up from seven feet to more than eleven feet from their muscular tails to their tapering, blunted snouts. Their backs are dark gray and their underbellies are white, in order to camouflage them from other ocean dwellers looking up into the light or down into the depths. Their pectoral fins are remarkably long, and the tips may be a darker color than their backs. A bull shark features an impressively large collection of  sharp teeth, which are lost and replaced at a very high rate.

Environment: Bull sharks enjoy warm, shallow waters, and can be found in any ocean that supplies this habitat. There have been many cases of the sharks swimming upriver and into freshwater habitats, which makes them a greater threat to humans than they might otherwise be.

Reproduction & Development: Unlike most fish, bull sharks give birth to live young, which hatch from eggs inside the female’s abdomen. One to three “pups” may be born at any one time. Gestation is typically ten to eleven months. Bull shark young keep to coastal areas and only venture more widely as adults. A bull shark usually lives up to sixteen years in the wild.

Nutrition: Bull sharks are carnivores at the top of the oceanic food chain, and eat mainly large fish, smaller sharks, and rays, though their selection of prey may extend to shellfish and crustaceans. Bull sharks may even be cannibalistic in some cases.

 

Week Three: Strep

Common Name: Strep

Scientific Name: Streptococcus pneumoniae

Not-So-Fun Fact: Streptococcus bacteria cause the disease of the respiratory system known as strep. The disease is very common among young children and the elderly, and may lead to malaise and even mental disorientation.

Domain: Prokaryota

Kingdom: Bacteria

Phylum: Firmicutes

Class: Bacilli

Order: Lactobacillales

Family: Streptococciae

Genus: Streptococcus

Species: S. pneumoniae

Environment: Streptococcus is a bacterium which infects the upper respiratory system most commonly and occasionally the brain and nervous system.

Description: The Streptococcus bacterium itself is lancet-shaped and possesses a thick, gram-positive cell wall. Symptoms of infection include aching in the part of the body affected, fever, coughing, confusion, and photosensitivity. Severe infections, especially ones that spread to the brain, can lead to permanent hearing loss, brain damage, and death; These are much less common in patients with access to medical treatment, who typically only experience the uncomfortable if considerably less harmful symptoms previously mentioned.

Reproduction & Development: Streptococci do not form spores and cannot move on their own. They usually reproduce by asexual mitosis, and whole populations can double in twenty to thirty minutes in favorable conditions (such as in a laboratory culture). At a certain point, when grouped in cultures that grow to an unstable level, the streptococci undergo a curious process in which the entire colony goes through autolysis using one of its own indigenous enzymes, called “autolysin.”

Nutrition: Streptococcus is a parasitic organism which feeds off its host and absorbs nutrients through its cell pores and cell membrane. It is usually found infecting liquid flows of nutrients, such as ones found in the lungs, spinal fluid, or blood.

 

Week Two: Valley Fever

Common Name: Valley Fever

Scientific Name: Coccidioides immitis

Not-So-Fun Fact: When inhaled, the fungus Coccidioides causes a severe lung infection called Coccidioidomycosis, or Valley Fever.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Fungus

Phylum: Ascomycota

Class: Euascomycetes

Order: Onygenales

Family: Onygenaceae

Genus: Coccidioides

Species: C. immitis

Description: Coccidioides is a long, chainlike fungus resembling a jewelry chain studded with square-shaped beads. The symptoms of the disease it causes resemble influenza, and often are confined to the lungs. If it forms spores, however, it can be spread by the victim’s own bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain and nervous system. Because it is “dimorphic”, it can change shape to evade the body’s immune system. Other symptoms of Valley Fever include fatigue, rash, headache, muscle ache, cough, and fever.

Environment: This fungus normally rests in the soils of Central America, South America, the southwestern United States, and Washington State. It is spread by inhalation of fungal spores. About 40% of those people who inhale the spores do not suffer the symptoms of Valley Fever. Residents of areas in which the fungus also resides should avoid a large amount of soil inhalation.

Reproduction & Development: Coccidioides reproduces by forming spores and spreading through the air or through the bloodstream. The fungus can reproduce sexually or asexually, though very little is known about the sexual reproduction of this species. Please regard the “Description” for the development of Coccidioides.

Nutrition: Coccidioides is a parasite that feeds off the human body, but also lies in the soil. It cannot survive on the surface of the soil in extremely hot, dry, or wet conditions and prefers a mild climate. Its preferred soil is full of carbonized organic material and various types of salt.

 

Week One: Peacock Flower

Common Names: Peacock Flower, Red Bird of Paradise, Barbados Pride, Ayoowiri, Flos Pavonis

Scientific Name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima syn. Poinciana pulcherrima

 

Not-So-Fun Fact (in fact, a terribly tragic one): The peacock flower, among other common toxic houseplants, was used during the days of brutal slavery in the Americas by oppressed and enslaved women. The women hoped that by ingesting the extremely poisonous seeds, they would either miscarry any children that would be born into a similarly miserable life or be killed themselves.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Fabales

Family: Fabaceae

Genus: Caesalpinia syn. Poinciana

Species: C. pulcherrima syn. P. pulcherrima

Description: The peacock flower is a beautiful shrub featuring long branches rimmed with small, fine leaves. Its also features bright red, orange, or yellow flowers which transform into poisonous flat brown seedpods. In favorable conditions it may reach twenty feet in height. Its bark is covered in sharp spines to discourage contact by non-pollinators.

Environment: The plant is indigenous to the islands of the Caribbean. It thrives in steamy tropical and subtropical climates, such as lowland and highland rainforest. It is also grown as an ornamental shrub, which gave its desperate users easy access while working in the domiciles of wealthy, botanically-minded slave owners.

Reproduction & Development: The peacock flower’s eye-catching blossoms are used to attract its favorite pollinator, the hummingbird, which feeds on the nectar and distributes pollen in summer. During the fall, the plants lose their flowers and grow seedpods which fall to the ground, their toxic seeds germinating into new plants.

Nutrition: Peacock flowers enjoy very wet and warm climates. They absorb nutrients from the soil and are autotrophic, like most plants.

 

Week One, Year Two: Angler Fish

Common Name: Triple-Wart Sea Devil Angler Fish

Scientific Name: Cryptopasaras couesi

Fun Fact: The bioluminescent lure dangling from a female anglerfish’s forehead is lit by millions of resident bacteria, which produce the natural light.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Lophiiformes

The above taxonomy and below sections describe all anglerfish. The following taxonomy deals with the triple-wart sea devil anglerfish in particular.

Family: Ceratiidae

Genus: Cryptopasaras

Species: C. couesi

Description: An anglerfish is a bulbous-bodied deep sea fish. It possesses a gaping mouth filled with long, razor-sharp teeth that prevent it from fully closing its lips. The anglerfish is usually colored dark reddish brown. The female of the species is much larger than the male and features a protrusion of fleshy spine tissue from its forehead which ends in a bioluminescent “lure”. Adult anglerfish can grow from eight inches to more than three feet in length and weigh up to 110 pounds.

Environment: Anglerfish live in the abyss, the deepest level of the ocean. All of their characteristics have evolved over time to suite this unusual, lightless, cold, and nearly barren habitat.

Reproduction & Development: Because of the difficulty of finding mates in the abyss, the male anglerfish latches onto the first female he finds using his teeth. For the rest of his life, he will rely on her bloodstream for nutrients. His bloodstream fuses with hers, and over time his body and internal organs will dissolve until he has been entirely absorbed by the female. More than six males may perform this process with any individual female anglerfish. The number of males affects the number of fertilized eggs the female may produce.

Nutrition: Anglerfish are carnivorous and feed on almost any prey they can find in their desolate environment. The female’s glowing lure is used to attract fish, which swim toward the light hanging from the anglerfish’s forehead and are devoured by the mouth beneath. This mouth is so large in comparison to the rest of the fish’s body that it may swallow prey up to twice its body size.