Broadbarred Spotfin Lionfish

Fish > Scorpaeniforms

The Broadbarred Spotfin Lionfish (Pterois antennata), also celebrated as the raggy-finned firefish, is a mesmerizing, venomous marine scorpaenid native to the tropical coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific. Instantly identifiable by its long, banded supraocular tentacles...

Roger’s Trap-Jaw Dacetine Ant

Invertebrates > Ants

Roger’s Trap-Jaw Dacetine Ant (Strumigenys rogeri) is a microscopic, hyper-specialized predatory ant belonging to the diverse myrmicine tribe Dacetini. Originally native to the dense tropical forests of Western Africa, this tiny subterranean terror has...

Ceylon Atlas Emperor Moth

Invertebrates > Moths

The Ceylon Atlas Emperor Moth (Attacus taprobanis) is a colossal, majestic saturniid moth endemic to the lush tropical rainforests of Sri Lanka and the southern Western Ghats of India. Among the largest insects on Earth by wing surface area, this nocturnal giant...

Slender-Spined Porcupinefish

Fish > Porcupinefish

The Slender-Spined Porcupinefish (Diodon nicthemerus), also known as the globefish, is an iconic temperate marine teleost belonging to the porcupinefish family Diodontidae. Endemic strictly to the cool coastal waters of southern Australia and Tasmania, this...

Carola’s Parotia

Birds > Birds-of-Paradise

Carola’s Parotia (Parotia carolae), named in honor of Queen Carola of Saxony, is an extraordinary, behaviorally sophisticated bird-of-paradise endemic to the mist-shrouded montane rainforests of New Guinea. Celebrated by ornithologists for staging one of the...