#invertebrates — Public Fediverse posts

Cressida cressida, the clearwing swallowtail or 'big greasy' butterfly. Large and conspicuously coloured - it is toxic to potential predators. Toxins are absorbed from the food that it eats as a caterpillar. Seen in Cape York. FNQ.

#nature #photography #australia #wildlife #insects #butterflies #invertebrates

Cressida cressida, the clearwing swallowtail or 'big greasy' butterfly. Large and conspicuously coloured - it is toxic to potential predators. Toxins are absorbed from the food that it eats as a caterpillar. Seen in Cape York. FNQ.

#nature #photography #australia #wildlife #insects #butterflies #invertebrates

Cressida cressida, the clearwing swallowtail or 'big greasy' butterfly. Large and conspicuously coloured - it is toxic to potential predators. Toxins are absorbed from the food that it eats as a caterpillar. Seen in Cape York. FNQ.

#nature #photography #australia #wildlife #insects #butterflies #invertebrates

Cressida cressida, the clearwing swallowtail or 'big greasy' butterfly. Large and conspicuously coloured - it is toxic to potential predators. Toxins are absorbed from the food that it eats as a caterpillar. Seen in Cape York. FNQ.

#nature #photography #australia #wildlife #insects #butterflies #invertebrates

Cressida cressida, the clearwing swallowtail or 'big greasy' butterfly. Large and conspicuously coloured - it is toxic to potential predators. Toxins are absorbed from the food that it eats as a caterpillar. Seen in Cape York. FNQ.

#nature #photography #australia #wildlife #insects #butterflies #invertebrates

Here are some hymenopterans 🐝🌿

#bugsky #invertebrates

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:66x6tziyavg3nmt3x46xu2bw/post/3mv6r4n6npk2s

Checked on my free range menagerie. Here are some lepidopterans 🦋🌿

#bugsky #invertebrates

The Beginnings of Man -Part 1

https://tonyaholisticblog.com/2026/08/31/the-beginnings-of-man-part-1/

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🪼🐙 A couple who ran aquariums in #Ukraine opened #Florida’s first jellyfish-only #museum in #PompanoBeach after fleeing the #war. It holds up to 25 #jellyfish species plus immersive projection and a mini lab.

👉 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/only-one-of-its-kind-jellyfish-museum-opens-in-florida-astounds-visitors-awe-inspiring-displays-nettles-safely-behind-glass-180989381/

#ocean #animals #nature #wildlife #fish #biology #marinebiology #science #ancient #invertebrates #climate #beach #nature #cnidaria

Big purple starfish. (Always good to see another healthy one!) New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/08/chance-find.html #VancouverIsland #Starfish #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #InverteFest #NaturePhotography

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🦑🌊 About 15 years ago, Japanese researchers on a #research vessel photographed a shoal of roughly 100 neon flying #squid gliding in formation above the #Pacific #Ocean, about 600 km from #Tokyo.

The species uses a funnel-like organ called the hyponome to jet #water, propelling itself through both #air and #sea. Scientists remain unsure why the squid fly in unison, suggesting they may be evading a #predator like a #shark.

👉 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/12/like-an-alien-invasion-the-neon-flying-squid-that-can-fly-in-formation-above-the-ocean

#marinebiology #marine #biology #cephalopod #animals #behavior #science #nature #invertebrates #wildlife #adaptation #aliens #neon

Mixed media

#Honeybees and #shrimp are now getting vaccinated
#Vaccines that target #invertebrates’ innate #immunesystems could be a major boon for agriculture
It has become increasingly clear that #innateimmunesystem has own way of creating immune memory. Scientists think this memory is achieved through #epigenetic changes, modifications to #DNA that don’t alter genetic sequence, and that these epigenetic changes can be passed from one generation to the next.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/honeybees-and-shrimp-getting-vaccinated
https://archive.ph/guvRa

#ArtRepostJuly Day 28: Environment

Kinda a stretch but here's a little game project I made. And when I say "I made" I mean pretty much everything; the models, the rigs, the textures, the animations, the sound effects, the code, the environment for the spider to play in...

#Invertebrates #GameDev #Arachnid

Busy Beavers - The Turbidity Signature Of Ecosystem Engineers At Work
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https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.70661 <-- shared paper
--
H/T @alan Puttock
“Beavers are the quintessential ecosystem engineers. In slow-flowing streams, they create complex wetlands with ponds by building dams and canals that can positively impact biodiversity, hydrology and water quality. These activities can interchangeably capture or release sediment along the watercourse. To date this has not been quantified at the resolution of rainfall events or beaver activity. This study used 15-min frequency, sustained monitoring upstream and downstream of a newly establishing beaver wetland to measure episodic changes in water turbidity at an event resolution. Monitoring showed no significant differences between upstream and downstream turbidity over 160 days when the first pair of beavers, known not to be building dams or canals, were resident. Shortly after introduction of another beaver pair, however, dam building, burrows and canal excavations were quickly observed, resulting in the creation of a complex beaver wetland between 2021 and 2024. Monitoring over 375 days during this period showed significant differences. Downstream turbidity was significantly higher overall than upstream: 13.1 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) compared to 4.2 NTU. Stochastic spikes in downstream turbidity during the study period not recorded upstream were associated with dam building and burrowing. Overall, there was no significant difference in turbidity loads, which was at least partially explained by a reduction in discharge downstream, particularly in higher flows, during the dam building period. This demonstrates a complex system with the trapping of influent sediment, the storing of water and the periodic release of beaver wetland sediment leading to net balance in loads. These results help provide context for other studies which have used temporally discrete sampling campaigns rather than continuous high-frequency monitoring. They provide a unique insight into the downstream impacts of a rapidly developing beaver wetland over its first three and a half years in a landscape that hasn't had beavers for over 400 years…"
#hydromorphic #water #hydrology #dam #beaverdam #waterquality #biodiversity #ecology #benefits #NatureBasedSolutions #Wetlands #Ecology #Biodiversity #EnvironmentalScience #Wildlife #Ecosystem #bioviversity #conservation #restoration #landscaperecovery #floodmanagement #FloodMitigation #flooding #energy #floodrisk #sustainability #wetlands #hydrography #dams #impoundment #deadwood #waterresources #landscapeengineer #benefits #vegetation #ecology #ecosystem #riversystemsstabilisation #naturalwaterregulation #resilience #valleysreborn #fisheries #invertebrates #extremeweather #floodflows #sediment #baseflow #drought #landmanagement #naturalsystems #landuse #monitoring #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal

Eager Beavers - Rodents Engineer Czech Wetland Project After Years Of Human Delay [ecosystem engineers]
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/11/beavers-save-czech-taxpayers-by-flooding-ex-army-training-site <-- shared technical media article
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver-engineered_dam_in_the_Czech_Republic <-- shared wiki technical page
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https://phys.org/news/2025-02-fine-beavers-czech-treasury-million.html <-- shared technical article
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https://youtu.be/GSTw8qmBP4Y?si=XK2Iy2pAltW91flj <-- shared video (Czech)
--
H/T @ScienceGirl
"We don't expect any conflict with the beaver in the next 10 years," ~ Bohumil Fiser from the Czech Nature Conservation Agency
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“For seven years, planners struggled to complete a $1.2 million wetland restoration project in the Brdy region of the Czech Republic. The goal was to build a dam that would improve water management and bring back valuable wetland habitat, but the project remained trapped in a maze of permits and approvals.
Then a family of eight Eurasian beavers did what engineers had planned… without permits, machinery, or a budget.
The beavers built a network of dams in almost the exact area chosen for the proposed project, naturally restoring the wetland system officials had spent years trying to create. After seeing the results, authorities decided there was little point continuing with the original human-built dam.
Although some reports suggested the beavers completed the work overnight, experts say their construction likely took several weeks. The reason it seemed sudden is that the animals quietly worked away until their finished dams became impossible to miss.
Beavers are known as “ecosystem engineers” because their behaviour can reshape entire environments. By cutting trees and blocking streams, they create ponds and wetlands that support countless species, including fish, amphibians, insects, birds, and mammals.
Their wetlands also act as natural water reservoirs, helping during droughts, reducing flood risks, filtering water, storing carbon, and keeping landscapes wetter during wildfires…
Once heavily hunted across Europe, beaver populations have been recovering thanks to conservation efforts, proving that sometimes nature can solve problems humans spend years trying to fix…"
#water #hydrology #KlabavaRiver #Czech #BrdyRegion #protected #CzechRepublic #armytraining #military #beaver #Eurasianbeavers #dam #beaverdam #waterquality #restoration #biodiversity #crayfish #wetland #ecology #benefits #Beavers #NatureBasedSolutions #Wetlands #Ecology #Biodiversity #Agroforestry #EnvironmentalScience #Conservation #Wildlife #Ecosystem #bioviversity #conservation #restoration #landscaperecovery #EcosystemEngineers #nature #floodmanagement #FloodMitigation #flood #flooding #energy #floodrisk #sustainability #wetlands #hydrography #dams #impoundment #deadwood #waterresources #landscapeengineer #agriculture #benefits #vegetation #ecology #ecosystem #riversystemsstabilisation #naturalwaterregulation #resilience #drought #wildfire #valleysreborn #slowdetermination #fisheries #invertebrates #extremeweather #floodflows #sediment #baseflow #drought #landmanagement #naturalsystems #landuse #ecosystemengineers #watermanagement

A Global Systematic Review Of The Effects Of Hydromorphological Floodplain Restoration On Biodiversity
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https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70485 <-- shared paper
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https://zenodo.org/records/20561534 <-- shared open data
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03428-9 <-- shared paper
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https://adriadapt.eu/adaptation-options/rehabilitation-and-restoration-of-rivers/ <-- shared technical article
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https://www.americanrivers.org/threats-solutions/restoring-damaged-rivers/benefits-of-restoring-floodplains/ <-- shared overview technical article
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#water #hydrology #literaturereview #global #hydromorphology #river #floodplain #restoration #biodiversity #habitat #ecosystem #ecology #naturebasedsolutions #flood #flooding #risk #hazard #birds #fish #invertebrates #plants #amphibians #microorganisms #smallmammals #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #management #planning #policy #riverfloodplain #conservation #results #summary #effectivness

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🕷️💨 The jungle #huntsman #spider from #Queensland reached 3.59 meters per second, doubling the previous #arachnid speed record.

Researchers at #Imperial College #London measured 162 #species across four #continents to study spider #locomotion. They found that longer legs relative to body size predict greater speed.

👉 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2532086-the-worlds-fastest-spider-tops-3-5-metres-per-second/

#biomechanics #arachnids #animals #science #biology #evolution #australia #wildlife #invertebrates #nature

#WildlifeWednesday

🐝 Just posted to Habitat Gardening, this time covering the importance of native shrubs and vines to birds and other forest friends - and how to find them.

🦋 Native vines in particular 'don't get no respect' in the native plant literature. I found a particularly useful source where you can search specifically for vines.

🐦‍⬛ As usual. there are seasonal habitat improvement ideas and a long list of references and further reading. Photos from my garden are also included.

Go Native!

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/move-up-with-shrubs-and-vines

@NCConnect
#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #Pollinators #BirdConservation

Wildlflower Wednesday

🌱 Just posted my latest blog for Habitat Gardening. This time covering planting your natives (finally).

🌻 And, for those who are a little more experienced, the seasonal improvement section helps you get real about your climate and changes you may have to make to your native garden.

And I get into composting a little, because it is so important!

👉 Look for the picture of an ugly, rain starved bed of flowers!

📓 As usual, the Resources section at the bottom is jammed with related information for new native gardeners.

Go Native!

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/planting-time

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk #WildflowerWednesday

There's a sea cucumber hidden down there in the dark! New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/04/cukes-worms-etc.html #VancouverIsland #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #InverteFest #NaturePhotography

GARDEN COLUMN: Do you have “good bugs” in your yard? | Community https://www.allforgardening.com/1734015/garden-column-do-you-have-good-bugs-in-your-yard-community-2/ #animals #Ant #aphid #arthropods #beetle #biology #botany #bug #caterpillar #coccinellidae #dragonfly #entomology #Fly #food #garden #GardenSpider #gardener #gardening #hemiptera #hexapoda #insect #insects #InsectsAndHumans #invertebrates #Kingdoms(biology) #LadybirdBeetle #mosquito #organisms #Pest(organism) #pollinator #predation #spider #TrapDoorSpider #wasp #Zoology

Oysters have such amazing zig-zag shells! New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/.../low-tide-sampler.html #VancouverIsland #Oysters #InverteFest #Molluscs #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

Sea anemones have feelings, too! Plumose anemone protests against falling tide. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/04/anemone-doings.html #VancouverIsland #Anemones #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

"Don't come any closer: I'll grab you and pinch you to death!" Purple shore crab defends his home territory. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/04/courageous-crab-and-two-not-so-brave.html #VancouverIsland #Crabs #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

Three limpets and a snail on Little Bear Bay beach. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/04/among-stones-at-little-bear-bay.html #VancouverIsland #Invertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

#WildflowerWednesday

Just posted again to my blog Habitat Gardening. This time, I cover

🪱Preparing soil for native plants - by not doing hardly anything.
and
🪲Protecting #wildflowers that bloom early - by just relaxing and not ripping them out.

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/prepare-your-garden-soil

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Conservation #Wildflowers #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk

Dungeness crab cheliped.From a molt. https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/03/critter-leftovers.html #VancouverIsland #MarineInvertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #NaturePhotography

Mussels, barnacles, oysters glued to an intertidal rock. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/03/staying-put.html #VancouverIsland #Oysters #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

Worm poops on the sand. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/02/of-tides-and-maps-and-worm-poops.html #VancouverIsland #PolychaeteWorms #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

Pink-tipped green anemones in the upper intertidal zone. New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2026/02/when-sun-shines.html #VancouverIsland #Anemones #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

Why is #JavaScript so popular? I hate everything about it.

I'm speaking at the #Canberra Field #Naturalists meeting at #ANU next month on #Malaise trapping and the #insects and other #invertebrates that surround us without our noticing them.

I expect most of my slides to be arrays of four or six #microscope images with a header (probably a family name in most cases) and captions for each image.

I don't want to lay out all these images in #LibreOffice (or any similar presentation tool) because I'm a perfectionist and getting it all tidy will take forever.

So, I decided to try out #Slidev, #Marp and other #Markdown-based presentation tools. The Markdown part is very appealing, but they all lean hard into JavaScript. That would be fine so long as I don't have to think about that side of things.

Slidev's AppleBasic theme seemed to be the best starting point, so I started hacking it to add som extra gridded image views. Plain image grids were not too challenging, but I really want captions for each image, so I started trying to understand how the templates use the forest of underlying JS libraries and CSS artefacts to produce the displayed slides.

Frankly, the whole thing is so opaque and would take me much longer to understand than preparing multiple presentations by hand would.

Then I realised I can use #montage on the command line to produce the kind of layouts I want, and I can script #exiftool to extract and prepare the captions which will save time.

So, my new plan is to write a #Python script that processes a #YAML file listing all the slides, titles and image paths. It can generate PNG images that are close to the target 1920*1080 size (give or take a little). I'll then use LibreOffice for a couple of more text-oriented or irregular slides, export those and combine all the images into a PDF.

I'm sure this will be way faster than battling Node.js. Not sure why I felt I had to write it up.

https://fieldnatsact.com/

HELP BUILD BIRD AND BEE POPULATIONS

🌱 New post in HABITAT GARDENING for those considering purchasing native plant seeds: Know germination requirements.

🐝 Also, store-bought bee houses can be dangerous for bees, unless you manage them correctly.

📒 Finally, several FREE resources that help you help the 30% of native bees in North America that live above ground. You can bee a hero and help for zero dollars.

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/know-before-you-buy-native-plant-seeds

#WildlifeWednesday
#HabitatGardening
#BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk

#WildlifeWednesday

👀 Check out the latest post to Habitat Gardening.

🐦‍⬛ This time I cover where to find sources of native plants so you can prepare for the next growing season using *Keystone Plants* that are critical in your area to supply food for birds and butterflies to bolster their falling populations.

🐝 But there's more! For winter season improvement, I described how to keep a spot for ground-dwelling bees. I give you a link to a helpful guide from the Xerces Society that provides you with details.

🔗 And, as always, there are links to expert resources.

#HabitatGardening #BiodiversityGardening #Gardening #NativePlants #Nature #Environment #Conservation #Biodiversity #Invertebrates #SolarPunk #Thrutopia

https://write.as/habitat-gardening/where-to-purchase-native-plants

I was today years old when I discovered that "Lumbricus badensis", europe's longest earthworm, endemic to the black forest in Germany, exists. There is even an discovery trek about the species located on Belchen mountain about the species! Nature never ceases to amaze me 🙂 🪱

#nature #germany #invertebrates #worm #endemic #deutschland

Watch out! This kelp crab is waiting for a chance to grab you! (On a piling under the wharf.) New blog post: https://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2025/12/shapes-in-murk.html #VancouverIsland #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #Crabs #MarineInvertebrates #NaturePhotography

Everything comes to an end eventually. I've run out of good hermit photos, so I'm pausing the Daily Hermit posts for now. (Just in time for Arachtober.) Here's a GrainyHand, deciding whether it's safe to come out of the shell. He's halfway there; GrainyHands, feeling threatened, retreat deep inside, out of sight. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Say ah! A "tonsil" level view of a Grainy Hand hermit. (Who has no tonsils, but you get the idea.) 3 sets of maxillipeds, clearly visible; behind these are the small chewing and sorting appendages, the maxillae and maxillules, and at the back the strong, crushing jaws, or mandibles. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Textures; knobs and sawteeth and hairs... A Grainy Hand hermit in the sunlight. An old friend; I named him "Big Blue". #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Deceptive; it looks like an eye like ours; it's not. Hermits have compound eyes, with thousands of ommatidia, each with its own lens. Wild guess: does the black spot in the centre work as camouflage, an imitation of the lens of a vertebrate's eye? #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Hi, there! Hermits in a tank like to sit right up against the glass, watching the big world outside. Sometimes I wonder what they think of us and our frantic dashing about. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Another freshly molted hermit, waiting while her skin stretches and hardens, safely hidden high in the sea lettuce. Here in the tank there are few predators; no fish, no gulls, no octopuses. But there's always a crab or two down on the sand. Vicious little beasts, says Hermie, always ready for a snack of soft hermit abdomen! #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

The everlasting search for new togs. It's not only after a molt that a hermit decides to switch shells. You never know; this one might be more roomy, lighter, more comfortable; better check it out! #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Midnight activity; a Holm's hermit on a feeding barnacle. With a pregnant copepod and something unidentfiable; white tentacles with fuzzy tops. Many marine critters are more active at night. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Tending to the brood. Video of a Hairy hermit crab with her eggs. #HermitCrabs #DailyHermit #Invertebrates #IntertidalInvertebrates #Nature https://youtu.be/4xfEJB6vgow?si=1ufqJX_zv3CHrdAH

Big responibility. Hairy hermit, in berry, with her hundred or so eggs. She'll tend to them for weeks, moving them in and out of the shell, washing and grooming them, until they hatch and float away. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

"Furry". Like Grandad, this hermit wears a coat of epibionts, but he's younger and more recently colonized; hydroids cover both the hermit and his shell. He clutches his mate; she's fuzz-free. As are his eyes. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit

Barnacle, hermit, barnacles. This hermit's a Hairy, serving both as barnacle transport and barnacle clean-up crew. Essential services.#VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit #Invertefest

In this together. Accidental triple exposure. Focusing through folded pages of a book, the camera caught the switch between screen saver photos. Hermit, tree, sky, marine life encyclopedia, tech; we sink or swim together. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit #Invertefest #AccidentalPhotography

Holms' hermit, on the job. When a barnacle dies, hermits quickly clean it out, removing the interior plates, scrubbing the walls, leaving the place ready for occupancy by other critters: anemones, worms, even fishes. #VancouverIsland #HermitCrabs #IntertidalInvertebrates #Invertebrates #MarineLife #DailyHermit #Invertefest