Chironectes bifurcatus [now Rhycherus filamentosus] - The Two-pronged Toad-fish [now the Tasseled Anglerfish]

Despite its accepted current name as the “tasseled anglerfish”, this species is a true frogfish, from the family Antennariidae. While frogfish are members of the same order as all anglerfish (Lophiiformes), they are fairly specialized dwellers on the continental shelf, relying on camouflage to capture their prey, while the deep-sea (benthic) anglerfish rely much more upon stealth and the allure of their, er, lure.

In figure 1a, you can see the structure of the teeth of the tasseled anglerfish. While it doesn’t have the big, stabbing, pointy teeth of some of its cousins, the small, sharp, closely-linked teeth function like tiny hooks in its prey, preventing them from escaping while they’re being eaten. This gives us the additional fun fact that most frogfish (including this one) end up eating their prey while it’s still fully alive and conscious (or at least as conscious as a fish can be) - without any gnashing or tearing of the body, the only thing that kills the prey is suffocation and acid within the stomach.

Natural History of Victoria: Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria. Decade VI. Frederick McCoy, 1881.

biomedicalephemera:

Callorhinchus milii - The Elephant Fish

This unfortunate-looking chap is an elephant fish, from the Antarctic basin. Antarctic elephant fish are smaller and more wrinkled than the variety that New Zealanders might know as elephant shark that comprises much of the “fish” side of fish & chips shops on the Islands. Their standard whitefish-like meat with palatable texture made them popular even before Europeans arrived in the South Pacific, with indigenous Maori populations. Since the fish come very close to shore during breeding season, Maori were able to catch and dry large numbers of them for the rest of the year.

The eponymous elephant-like trunk of the elephant fish is a proboscis, and the fish’s primary mode of food detection. As it weaves along the sea floor, the sensory nerves of the proboscis pick up movement from any buried crustacean life, and guide the fish to its prey. Though not prehensile by any means, most species of elephant fish are thought to use the proboscis to dig out the prey, as well as locate it.

Fishes and Fishing: Artificial Breeding of Fish, Anatomy of their Senses, Their Loves, Passions, and Intellects. W. Wright, Esq., 1858.

Callorhinchus milii - The Elephant Fish

This unfortunate-looking chap is an elephant fish, from the Antarctic basin. Antarctic elephant fish are smaller and more wrinkled than the variety that New Zealanders might know as elephant shark that comprises much of the “fish” side of fish & chips shops on the Islands. Their standard whitefish-like meat with palatable texture made them popular even before Europeans arrived in the South Pacific, with indigenous Maori populations. Since the fish come very close to shore during breeding season, Maori were able to catch and dry large numbers of them for the rest of the year.

The eponymous elephant-like trunk of the elephant fish is a proboscis, and the fish’s primary mode of food detection. As it weaves along the sea floor, the sensory nerves of the proboscis pick up movement from any buried crustacean life, and guide the fish to its prey. Though not prehensile by any means, most species of elephant fish are thought to use the proboscis to dig out the prey, as well as locate it.

Fishes and Fishing: Artificial Breeding of Fish, Anatomy of their Senses, Their Loves, Passions, and Intellects. W. Wright, Esq., 1858.

Anonstostoma australiasiae - The Giant King Cricket

A member of the same family as the Giant Wetas of New Zealand, the Giant King Cricket is the heaviest cricket in Australia, and is one of the largest in the world. Living in the rainforest environments of Queensland and New South Wales, these Orthoptera emerge only on wet nights, and eat slow-moving insects and rotting fruit.

King Crickets aren’t threatened or endangered, though they’re not exactly easy to find. As burrowers, the only real chance for an inexperienced explorer to find one is under significant piles of leaf detritus. But hey! If you’re ever stranded in the Queensland/NSW rainforest and come across one, they apparently make as good a meal as the New Zealand wetas! They might not taste great uncooked, but they’re not deadly, and aren’t especially skittish critters, at the least.

The Naturalist’s Library: Introduction to Entomology. James Duncan, Edited by William Jardin, 1840.

biomedicalephemera:

When George Shaw first described a specimen of platypus brought to him by Captain John Hunter, the second governor of New South Wales, he (along with most naturalists of the time) thought it was a hoax. In his first description of it in 1799, he noted that it was “impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature”, and even took scissors to the dried skin sent to him in order to check for stitches. 

However, by the time he gave his lecture series at the Royal Institution, he had no doubts of its authenticity, though it still baffled him as to its true nature as an animal.

From Zoological lectures delivered at the Royal Institution. George Shaw, 1809.

rhamphotheca:

The “Duckbill” (Platypus), an Impossible Creature

from the encyclopedia Cassell’s Book of Knowledge (1930)

(scanned by Betty Broadbent)

rhamphotheca:

Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)

from A Hand-book to the Marsupialia and Monotremata (1896) by E. Lloyd

Don’t think I’ve ever posted this plate, but even if I have…PLATYPUS!

“Dog-headed thyloeinus”

This is either a miniature thylacine, or a damn giant of a platypus…thylacines ranged from 40-70 lbs (20-30 kg) as adults (they were about the size of a small greyhound, but built more for stamina than speed), and platypuses are considered BIG if they reach 6 lbs (2.6 kg).

Roosevelt’s Thrilling Experiences in the Wilds of Africa Hunting Big Game. Marshall Everett, 1909.*

*No, this scene is not from Africa. It is from an account of another explorer later in the book, who went to Tasmania

Aboriginal art at Ubirr

This ~2200 y.o. drawing of a thylacine is on a cave rock in Ubirr, an aboriginal holy site in the Kakadu National Park, in the Northern Territory of Australia. There is art depicting indigenous wildlife, local spirits, and the aborigines themselves. Since approximately 40,000 years ago, the many rock outcroppings at Ubirr have been painted and re-painted, but the pigment used on this illustration has been dated to (roughly) 200 B.C.E. 

The thylacine is known to have been extinct in this area for over 2000 years.

Kakadu National Park and Aboriginal Culture

Thylacoleo (“marsupial lion”) skull fragments

Richard Owen received and described these skull fragments in 1859. The extraordinary difference in one of the teeth presented to him led him to question the initial proposition that this was simply another extinct placental mammal. Comparing the mandibular structure and tooth structure to dasyures and thylacines versus the mandibular structure of the placental lion showed him that this was a marsupial mammal.

On the Fossil Mammals of Australia Part I. Richard Owen, 1859.

The Tasmanian Tiger - Thylacinus cynocephalus

The Mammals of Australia. Krefft, from photographs by Victor A. Prout, 1869.

Juvenile stone plover, avocet, pied oystercatcher, and lotus bird

These birds are all waders, which largely live in wetland or coastal environments. The lotus bird is able to stride atop the lilypads and other wetland flora, thanks to its long toes, which distribute its weight over a large area. The other waders walk along the water bottom for the most part, and rarely venture beyond still shallows.

A Manual of the Birds of Australia. Gregory M. Mathews, 1921.

Beaks of the mollymawks and albatrosses of Australia.

A Manual of the Birds of Australia. Gregory M. Mathews, 1921.

The Old Wife fish (Enoplosus armatus), taken by Rontgen ray process

The “Old Wife” is a saltwater fish, and was given its rather derogatory colloquial name by the screeching sound it makes by grinding its teeth together after being caught. It’s supposedly akin to nails on a chalkboard.

Illustrated Handbook. Aquarium, Picture Salon, Cyclorama, Museum, and Technological Collections. Compiled by James E. Sherrard.

Nyctophilus geoffroyi and Nyctophilus major - Lesser Long-Eared Bat and Greater Long-Eared Bat

Both of these bats are Australian natives. The lesser long-eared bat looks mean as hell in Haeckel’s Chiroptera illustration…

The Zoology of the Voyage of the H.M.S. Erebus & Terror, 1839-1843. John Richardson, 1845.