Goodnight’s Hooded Tickspider

Invertebrates > Arachnids

Goodnight’s Hooded Tickspider (Cryptocellus goodnighti) is an armored, enigmatic arachnid belonging to the ancient order Ricinulei. Endemic to the damp Caribbean rainforests of Costa Rica, this living fossil possesses a specialized movable plate—the...

Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus

Plants > Cacti

The Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), celebrated across the globe as the ‘Queen of the Night’ or ‘Lady of the Night,’ is a magnificent epiphytic cactus native to the lush, humid rainforests of Mesoamerica. Renowned for its...

Hydrothermal Vent Mussel

Invertebrates > Bivalves

The Hydrothermal Vent Mussel (Bathymodiolus thermophilus) is a pioneering deep-sea bivalve that forms sprawling, cobblestone-like colonies surrounding active volcanic hydrothermal vents along the mid-ocean ridges of the eastern Pacific. First discovered during...

Chambered Deep-sea Lobster

Invertebrates > Crustaceans

The Chambered Deep-sea Lobster (Dinochelus ausubeli) is an extraordinary, clawed nephropid lobster discovered in 2007 during the international Census of Marine Life expedition off the Philippine archipelago. Possessing an astonishing, radically asymmetrical major claw...

Umbrella Squid

Invertebrates > Cephalopods

The Umbrella Squid (Histioteuthis bonnellii) is a magnificent deep-sea cephalopod that inhabits the aphotic bathypelagic realm of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. Renowned for its dramatic, expansive interbrachial webbing that connects its muscular arms like the...