Translucent Snailfish

Fish > Liparidae & Snailfishes

The Translucent Snailfish (Careproctus pellucidus) is an ethereal, deep-sea teleost inhabiting the cold, bathyal continental slopes and abyssal plains of the North Atlantic Ocean. Belonging to the family Liparidae—the snailfishes—this specialized creature possesses a...

Hochstetter’s Frog

Amphibians > Leiopelmatidae & Archaic Frogs

Hochstetter’s Frog (Leiopelma hochstetteri) is one of the most evolutionarily primitive living amphibians on Earth, an ancient living fossil endemic exclusively to New Zealand. Belonging to the endemic archaic family Leiopelmatidae, which diverged from all other...

Ross’s Gull

Birds > Laridae & Gulls

Ross’s Gull (Rhodostethia rosea) is an elusive, delicate seabird of the High Arctic, celebrated worldwide for its buoyant, buoyant flight and breathtaking rose-pink breeding plumage. Named in honor of the British Arctic explorer Sir James Clark Ross, this small...

Hooded False Morel

Fungi > Discinaceae & False Morels

The Hooded False Morel (Gyromitra infula), also known as the saddle-shaped false morel or elfin saddle, is an intriguing ascomycete fungus native to the vast boreal and montane coniferous belts of the Northern Hemisphere. Unlike true morels (Morchella), which fruit...

Headlight Click Beetle

Invertebrates > Elateridae & Click Beetles

The Headlight Click Beetle (Pyrophorus noctilucus), known locally in the Neotropics as the ‘cucuyo,’ is one of the most spectacularly bioluminescent insects on Earth. Reaching lengths of nearly two inches, this robust elaterid beetle is renowned for two...