#nudibranch week

[catnoli]

a collection of tide pool critters + epaulette sharks from my ko-fi sticker sheet for september!! join here to get it ^_^

[low-po1y-princess]

One of my environmental science classmates knows Abt gwar and liked my shirt. Awesomes 👍

[bhcrafts]

So I’d opted in to doing Cyber Week on Etsy again, not realizing that it’s lasting almost a full two weeks this year, instead of the usual one?

Anyway...Cyber Week is happening at my shop already, apparently! 🤷‍♀️ With the exception of newer items, everything is 20% off. Link in bio!

[octochick]

thi createure. is peak creatutre. i love iot

[televisionbug]

ms paint guys

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Love is a Many-Legged Thing

Yandere Squid Merman x Gender Neutral Reader CW: Noncon, tentacle noncon, light tentacle bondage, stalking, kidnapping, squid-based merman, big slimy prehensile merman dick, reader fucked senseless, merman fantasizes about receiving oral sex, general yandere behavior, delusional yandere, voyeurism, exhibitionism Word Count: 2k (Happy MerMay!!!! I really hope you all love the fic, would have been done weeks ago had the ac not died. But still 40min left of MerMay! I wrote this fast without a beta reader so please forgive any mistakes! The name Onyk is a reference to Onykia Ingens, a deap sea squid with an astoundingly long dick.)

Seaspark Aquarium was a very unique establishment. Not only did it contain the usual attractions that an aquarium housed, the tide pools, the sharks, a seemingly unending variety of colorful fish and corals and nudibranchs, but it also housed transient merfolk. The aquarium was situated on a flat outcrop of rocky land. Via submerged tubes it granted access to a huge tank to the ocean and merfolk below.

The tank was absolutely massive and had many different areas including a reef, a seaweed forest, a beach, and even a secluded sea cave. There were underwater cameras in most of the areas that live streamed what was happening on screens for the humans. Though the sea cave feed was restricted to adults only since the merfolk sometimes mated there.

The aquarium was just as much an exhibit for the merpeople as it was for the humans, they had underwater screens that allowed them to view the humans at play and at the food court. They enjoyed seeing and even communicating with their terrestrial cousins. There were several areas where humans and merpeople could talk face to face or via the cameras. Many of them visited quite frequently and made friendships with regular customers and their favorite staff members.

You had been blessed with landing a really good job at Seaspark Aquarium. Though it was entirely because you were the cousin of the curator of the establishment. You did janitorial tasks, including sometimes scraping the tanks, and occasionally you had to provide food for an exhibit. Even though interacting with animals or merfolk was not a common part of your job, there was one squid-man who had become quite friendly with you. Onyk.

Most of the squid type mermen shied away from human interaction, and really the aquarium as a whole, but not Onyk. He had always been a frequent visitor. A knowledgeable observer might even say it seemed that he had been hoping to find something there. The first few times he had gone had been out of pure curiosity about humans after hearing tales about them his entire life. But after his first couple of visits he was enthralled. Everything about the land walkers amazed him.

And then he met you and felt his heart flutter every single time he looked upon you. He frequently tried to engage you in conversation whenever he could and was always watching you, though often it was in secret. Onyk cherished your chats with him, he found you so interesting, even more so than he found other humans. He loved seeing you go about your tasks, it made him think of you cleaning his home as his mate while he went and got food for the two of you.

Of course if you had any say, that would never happen. Onyk, for some reason you couldn't quite place, creeped you out. No, it wasn't the head of tentacles he had in place of hair, nor the dark purple tentacles he had from the waist down, it wasn't his smile that showed off his dangerously sharp teeth, or his cyan blue eyes. No, it wasn't anything physical, just a weird energy he seemed to give off. Like a hungry animal hunting its prey.

You tried to be nice to Onyk, though you always tried to keep conversations brief and hurry on to other tasks that would take you out of his reach. Unfortunately he took your awkward stammers and clumsy rushing to zip away from him as you being extremely shy because you liked him. He sighed and stared at you longingly, head resting on his hands, as you rushed off once more. Clearly you were simply too embarrassed by your emotions to act rationally around him. Onyk had to find a way to get you to stop running off. As adorable as it was that you kept scampering off from your shyness you really needed to be closer to him.

Onyk had a brilliant, though simple, idea. It came to him right as you were in the middle of making another excuse to run away from him while the two of you were chatting in the beach area. He'd simply grab you. It wasn't the first thing he'd normally do, but you were just too prone to running off. It was more than obvious you needed him to make a firm and forceful first move.

"Well uh... it was nice seeing you again Onyk... but um... I gotta go check on the tide p-"

Onyk lunged at you suddenly with the speed and ferocity of lightning. He pulled you into the water and swiftly took you into the empty sea cave and sat you on the dry ground within. Yes, this would do perfectly for his purposes. It was a huge room that had an area for him to swim and enough space for you to run about and get exercise. This would make a lovely home for the two of you, he'd have to keep all the other merfolk out from now on but that wasn't an issue, they were respectful of claimed territory.

Once you caught your breath you were confused and angry at the sudden relocation.

"What the f-"

He interrupted you again, this time by pressing his hungry lips to yours in a passionate embrace. His long tongue slipped past your unsuspecting lips and explored every inch that it could reach. His saliva pooled in your mouth, claiming it. The offending muscle snaked down your throat before finally retreating as he broke the kiss, you struggled to find your breath once more.

"Heh, sorry for interrupting, I have just been waiting to kiss you for so long I couldn't hold back any longer!"

“What!? Why did you do that? Why did you bring me here!?”

“Well your shyness was making it hard for us to take things to the next step in our relationship, now you can’t let your nervousness get the better of you and make you run off!”

“Next step in our relationship? We have no relationship, you creep!”

“Don’t say that! Y-you just have the jitters because moving in is such a big step! Yeah, they’ll wear off soon I’m sure.”

“There won’t be a soon, I am going back to the beach!”

You started to head back to the water, but Onyk closed the distance between the two of you easily.

“But you can’t go! You’re just in denial and nervous, but you’ll love living with me, I promise. M-maybe I’m not moving too fast but too slow. That must be it, you must be all pent up and eager for my dick! So naughty~”

Onyk’s blush was evident even on his light blue skin. He swallowed your complaints in another deep kiss as he stood behind you and rubbed your crotch gently.

“We’ll do it in front of these cameras so everyone knows you’re mine now~”

And, indeed, the screens in the adults only section of the aquarium definitely picked up some viewers as the scene between you and Onyk unfolded.

Most mermen would have had trouble traversing land, but Onyk’s strong tentacles allowed him to maneuver easily enough. He peeled off your wet clothing and wrapped his arms tightly around your bare chest, rubbing and caressing you with greedy hands. His prehensile cock wrapped partially around your waist, held you close as it rubbed against you. At first you mistook the sensation for a tentacle before looking down and seeing it, the cock was tapered, icy blue and glowing at the tip, with the rest of it being dark purple.

Your shouts and screams were ignored as Onyk convinced himself they were just you being grumpy or maybe playing hard to get. The merman’s sharp teeth bit carefully at your tender neck as you squirmed. Most of his tentacles had wrapped around your legs, powerful suction cups firmly adhered them to you. They held you staunchly in place despite your best efforts to struggle.

The remaining two writhing appendages were busy with another task. They gently prodded and massaged your tight hole, slowly worming their way inside you. Your efforts to clench and keep them outside of you were rendered futile as they finally worked their way inside of you. They began thrusting in tandem back and forth within you, loosening you up well.

Your next attempt at protesting devolves into several lusty moans as he ministrations begin to elicit pleasure. It’s all the confirmation he needs that he has been right all along and definitely went about everything in the right way.

“Your mating sounds are so lovely,” he said as he nipped at your ear.

His tentacles suddenly withdrew from your lovingly stretched hole, leaving you involuntarily whimpering at the sudden removal.

“Awe, don’t worry, love. I have something far better to put into you~”

You snap out of it when you hear those words and feel his cock move itself from your waist and start wiggling against you in search of its target.

“What!? No, please do-oooh~ Aaah!”

When it found your entrance it deftly slithered right in. Much to your unwilling pleasure.

Onyk chuckled.

“I knew you just needed some good dick~ You feel soooo good. You were made for this!”

When you happened to look up at one of the cameras you blushed and looked down. The room that monitored the sea cave was now packed, everyone enjoying the sight. The aquarium was already at work recording with plans to put it on their website for sale.

You couldn’t help the lewd cacophony of noises that tumbled from your mouth as the thick slimy cock thrust back and forth inside of you.

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you!” Onyk chanted louder and louder until he slammed into you hard, filling you up with warm viscous semen at the same moment that you were shuddering from the strongest orgasm that you had ever experienced.

You were far too dazed and overstimulated to realize what was going on in that moment or what you were saying, but on autopilot you mumbled back what your brain thought it was supposed to when someone told you that they loved you.

“I l-love you too…”

Onyk was overjoyed to hear those words from his beloved human. He pulled out of you and laid down on the floor of the cave, pulling you close to him and resting your head on his chest. His webbed fingers gently caressed you as did both the tentacles that made up his "hair" and the ones below his waist. Cum slowly ebbed out of you and onto him but he didn't mind, the two of you would just get messy again the second you came to your senses. He nuzzled into your hair and gave you dozens of little kisses. Your mind was too blank and your body too exhausted to do anything but drool a bit on his chest while he cuddled you.

His head was swimming with all of the things the two of you would do together. Sharing meals, chatting, mating. He couldn’t wait to wrap his cock gently around your neck while at the same time plunging it down your throat and having that pretty mouth of yours suck it until he was feeding you his cum. Maybe the two of you could try it when you woke up.

Meanwhile onlookers on the viewing screens were putting away their cocks and slipping their fingers out of their pussies with the spectacle now over, but word soon spread and tourism was up over 300 percent! Scientists the world over were interested in documenting this rare species of merman having sexual relations with a human. Grants were given. A great raise and credit to your cousin, the curator.

It was even considered a diplomatic victory for merfolk and humans!

Everyone came to the consensus that on all fronts, but yours, it was far too beneficial and lucrative to make sure you had to permanently stay in the sea cave for the rest of your life with Onyk. At the very least they equipped the habitat with amenities like a proper bathroom, tv, video games, and human food. The sea cave area was also expanded, and you were afforded some privacy, except for most of the times that your “husband” Onyk was spilling his seed into you. That’s what people wanted to see.

[bluebudgie]

And it's live!

The Interstellar Invertebrates enamel pin Kickstarter campaign has launched today and will be running for 30 days until October 12 2023, 2:00 pm CEST.

For all lovers of spineless creatures this hard enamel pin collection features designs of five different animals: The rubber ducky isopod, the common cuttlefish, the nudibranch willan's chromodoris, the western honey bee and the moon jellyfish.

Have a look at the small test batch of rubber ducky isopod pins I ordered ahead of the project:

For more info check out the campaign page here!

---

And a big thank you to everyone who shared the project's pre-launch page in the past week, it means a lot! <3

[thicctails]

><((((º>‿︵‿︵‿︵Undercurrent‿︵‿︵‿︵<º))))><

A Merformers x Reader Fanfiction

Chapter 2 ° Coastguard

Blessed be Randy the coffee machine, your holy god of caffeine. May His hazel liquid flow eternally into graceous Bartholomew, vessel of Randy's divine lifeblood; discount noname brand coffee that had expired last week.

Taking another sip of your beloved breakfast drink, you forced yourself to walk towards the greeting area of your clinic, praying to any deity that was listening that you looked at least passably presentable. You'd taken far longer to pull yourself away from the tender embrace of your nearly flat air mattress than you should have, and both your nerves and back were paying for it.

The head researcher of A.E.R.O. was meeting with you today to discuss your collaboration effort with them, and finally tell you exactly what species you'd be getting to work with. You hoped it would be something exciting, like sharks, dolphins, whales, or nudibranchs.

Taking a shaky breath, you shoved your anxiety down into the pit of your gut where it could, hopefully, only be noticed by you as your hand grasped the handle of the door. You pulled, ready to take the first proper step towards your new life.

Ka-thunk!

Ah. It was a push door.

Willing the colour that had suddenly flooded your cheeks to kindly fuck off, you meekly pushed the door open.

A man was standing in the main entrance room, leaning against Desk the desk and scrolling through something on his phone. He was dressed fairly casual for someone in his position, sporting tan cargo shorts, a forest green t-shirt, and a black lab coat, his company's acronym emblazoned in crisp vinyl across his breast pocket. He had tousled light brown hair and deep brown eyes that were framed by square glasses. At the sound of your approach, he lifted his gaze from his cellphone and gave you a warm smile, pocketing the device and turning his body towards you.

"Doctor L/N! It's nice to finally meet you!" he greeted, extending his hand to you. "My name is Dr. Burns, but please, just call me Graham."

Though it had been difficult to tell sometimes, you had not actually been raised by a pack of rabid wolves, so you returned the gesture, gripping the man's hand and giving it a shake.

"It's a pleasure to acquatence your make."

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Hey, God? Could you do a little smiting? Yeah, right here please.

"I- I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to say that." You managed to get out, almost shocked that you hadn't fucked that sentence up as well.

Breaking News! Local PhD holder flubbs basic greeting! Becomes World Champion speedrunner for ruining first impressions and instantly loses any chance of being considered for further employment and any shred of respect this man had for them!

"It's fine. Honestly, I was just as nervous as you when I first started." Graham laughed, startling you out of your own mental spiral, "I was so preoccupied with my own worries that I tripped and fell face first into a pool on my first day."

You stared at Graham for a moment, stunned that he was still talking to by choice and not out of obligation, before a small, strangled chuckle left your throat, sounding more like the dying squak of a strangled seabird than a laugh.

"Come on, the rest of the team is waiting for us in town." the brunette said, gesturing for you to follow him.

You arched a brow but obediently followed after him, trailing after the researcher like a duckling waddling after a pair of boots.

"Oh? I was under the impression this meeting was to discuss my contract." you replied, trying to scrape together a professional-ish sentence while simultaneously praying that you weren't coming off as rude.

"It is, but once everyone got wind that we would be working with someone new, they got a little," he paused, hand waving about as he searched for the right word, "excited. It's been a while since anyone besides Marissa worked close enough for us to talk to them on a semi-regular basis."

"Can't wait to meet them!" you said cheerfully, lying through your teeth.

The idea of having to interact with another human being today had been draining enough, but to have to converse with several? When their opinions of you could impact your career?

Your hands twitched around Bartholomew's smooth, ceramic body, wishing you'd added a few ounces of pure caffeine to your coffee. Maybe you'd get lucky and get struck by a bus.

Unfortunately, God wasn't known for being kind to you, so you arrived at a small diner completely unharmed.

The worn bell above the door dinged as you and Graham stepped inside, the smell of greasy fries and cheap burgers wafting all around you as he led you over to one of the booths, the cracked red leather seats occupied by three other people in various states of dress.

There was a younger woman with russet skin and shockingly red hair that was pulled back in a loose ponytail, a few hairclips keeping her bangs out of her bright blue eyes. She was dressed in a cream and light orange dress, matching knee-high boots complementing her outfit. She was scrolling on her phone, but put the device down when she noticed your approach.

Ah, the mortifying feeling of being known. It never failed to make you uncomfortable.

The other two, who were seemingly in the middle of seeing who could chug a milkshake faster, were men, light skinned and with almost identically brown hair. It was easy to pick them apart, though, seeing as one was built like a brick shithouse and looked as though he was cosplaying some strange cross between a soldier and a Ghostbuster, and the other was a twink that also happened to be absolutely rocking some sun-bleached overalls and a set of the most obnoxiously yellow rubber boots you'd ever seen in your entire life.

"Hey, dingbats!" the woman hissed, nudging her closest colleague, who happened to be the rubber boots guy, "The new vet is here!"

While the two guys attempted to swallow their drinks without getting a brain freeze, Graham gave you a somewhat sheepish smile. "Dr. L/N, I'd like to introduce you to Doctor Sari Sumdac, Doctor Spike Witwicky, and Doctor Blaine L. Parker."

"Mainframe." Blaine said, slamming his cup down with a satisfied sigh, "Call me Mainframe. Only my Mama calls me Blaine."

"I'm still good with Spike." the other man chimed in, extending his hand to you as you and Graham slid into the opposite booth seat. You shook it, quickly repeating the action with Sari and Mainframe.

"So, you're the new guy, eh?" Mainframe asked, "We've been waitn' for Marissa to finally pick someone. She's too picky, if you ask me."

"Not picky enough if she hired you." Sari shot back, and for a moment you stiffened, afraid you were about to have front row seats for a fight, but Mainframe's laughter and Sari's teasing expression quickly calmed your nerves. She looked back at you, her face taking on a more genuine look, "He's not wrong about us waiting, though. A.E.R.O. has been around for a few years now, but you're the first vet we've gotten assigned to work with us."

Your eyebrows shot up, mouth opening slightly in surprise before you remembered to shut it, "Really? Why?"

The gathered marine biologists looked at each other for a moment, before Spike leaned in closer to you. You matched his action, wondering what exactly he had to say.

"Did Marissa fill you in on what exactly A.E.R.O. means?" he asked in a low whisper.

You thought for a moment, then shook your head. Actually, your employer had told you very little, just enough to get you to sign a contract with her. You didn't regret your decision; anything would be better than the place you'd come from, but this secrecy did make you wonder what exactly you'd gotten yourself into.

"A.E.R.O.," Spike continued, "stands for Aquatic Extraterrestrial Research Outpost."

You blinked, leaning back as you turned over what Spike had just told you. Had you heard him correctly? No, surely not. Clearly you hadn't had enough coffee yet.

"I'm sorry," you apologized, chuckling a little "I must still be a bit groggy, because I thought you said extraterrestrial for a moment there."

The four shared another look, then once again focused their attention back on you.

"You heard correctly, Dr. L/N." Graham said, producing an envelope from the interior of his jacket. He quickly glanced around the diner, before sliding the envelope over to you. He continued speaking as you picked it up, hands shaking slightly.

"Five years ago, several objects from deep space suddenly entered our atmosphere and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. It was presumed that they were abnormal meteors of some kind, but a government owned dive team discovered that they were actually pods of some kind, made of materials not found on Earth.

"They were empty by the time they were found, but not long after they were discovered and retrieved, strange signals began to be picked up by sonar sensors, and sailors around this area began to report seeing bizzare creatures swimming beneath their boats, some of them claiming that their vessels were attacked, which was corroborated by several documented cases of boats coming in with scratch marks on their hulls."

You opened the envelope and reached inside, withdrawing several polaroid photographs. Each one was of a different boat, ranging from dinky little sailboats to bulky fishing trawlers. However, they all shared one unique feature; a set of deep gouges that tore through wood and metal, left behind by something that had to be absolutely huge.

Well shit, slap a tinfoil hat on your head and call you a believer, because there wasn't much in the ocean that had claws to begin with, and certainly nothing with claws large enough to do that kind of damage.

As you began to tuck the photos back into the envelope, you noticed that one of them was drastically different. It was blurry, taken on the coast during what looked like a storm, but not even those hindrances could mask the appearance of the... thing that had been captured on camera.

It was big. Like, really big.

The closest thing you could compare it to would be some kind of whale, but it looked so wholly unlike any species you knew of that you immediately tossed that idea out the window. It had a long, silvery body, covered in large, armour-like scales that almost gave the appearance of it being segmented. Thick, spiny fins jutted out along most of its tail, purple webbing torn and ragged. It's upper half was obscured, as the creature was diving back down beneath the surface, but the very beginnings of its torso hadn't quite been submerged when the photo was taken, and you could see a long row of crimson gills that glowed in the moonless dark.

"What the fuck." you breathed out, shoving the photos back into the envelope before tossing it away from you like you were playing the world's strangest game of Hot Potato.

"Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction too." Sari said, picking up the envelope. "We've been calling that one 'The Meg', since you could almost mistake it for an overgrown shark, if you only caught a glimpse of it.

You pinched the bridge of your nose and groaned softly as you considered everything you'd just been told.

"Let me get this straight," you started slowly, dragging your hand down your face before resting it on your chin, "You and Marissa want me to find a way to study and treat a highly aggressive, barely studied, extremely dangerous alien, let me repeat that for you, alien species with no prior experience and, since you four work at a separate facility, no team?"

A pregnant silence met your question for a moment, before being broken by a very timid, very nervous "Yes?" from Graham, who was rubbing the back of his head.

You looked at him, looked at the rest of his team, looked at the exit of the diner, and considered your options; accept this batshit insane, borderline suicidal offer and risk getting torn limb from limb by sea monsters from beyond the stars, or move back in with your parents.

"Well Christ on a bike, sign me up." you replied, before snagging the nearby coffee pot and, after checking that it wouldn't give you third degree burns, chugged the whole damn thing, determined to get enough caffeine in your body to drown out that little voice in your head that alway nagged that you should have been a lawyer.

[unluckywisher]

Rafayel's

"The Little Mermaid"

Content: The original tale by Hans Christian Andersen, modified to have Rafayel as the protagonist. Other characters have also been genderbent. I've tried to keep the story as close to the original as possible, while also incorporating some new elements as well as modifying others to fit Rafayel.

Warning: This is not like Disney's version of the story. The original fairytale is less sweet, and doesn't have a happy ending. Expect angst.

Word count: 6.1k (+ Author's Note and Bonus at the end)

Tagging the people who commented on my initial post about this fic: @fancyhawk45 @anxiousgoddest @exactlycleverpirate @solinmoirav @his-ocean-emissary @aneverydaysimp Thank you for waiting <3

“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Rafayel’s brother muses, “humans are so lively and interesting… It’s just like our brother said last year. No, even better! Rafayel, you’re gonna love it once it’s your turn.”

Rafayel listens to his brother’s tale starry eyed. He just returned from the surface, like their brothers before him on their coming-of-age birthday. Next year, it will be his turn.

Unfair, he thinks, that he’s the youngest, yet the one most interested in humans. Every year for the past 5 years, his brothers have had the pleasure of seeing the human world for themselves, while he has to wait and be content with the stories they tell once they come back.

He has tried to protest to his parents, the Sea King and Queen, as well as his grandmother, but they’ve just told him to be patient. His mother, at least, gave him something to help him pass the time: A statue of a human girl that she found once while swimming near the coast.

He cherishes it dearly, visiting it every day and asking it questions, imagining what the responses would be like.

“Do you like painting too?” he asks, showing it the drawing he just finished.

A pause.

“Yeah, I painted it myself. You must use different things to create the pigments, you don’t have algae up there, do you?”

He looks around the Royal garden the statue has been placed in.

“No, you have…” he tries recalling the stories, “Flowers! That’s the word. They’re supposed to be as colorful as nudibranchs and shaped sorta like anemones, right?”

The statue remains silent.

“Oh, how I wish you could speak, so I could ask you a million questions…”

Rafayel spends his days talking to the statue, painting how he thinks the surface world looks, daydreaming about seeing it all for himself. With each passing day, the fondness he feels grows. It doesn’t help that his brothers like to tease him about how he’s the only one that hasn’t been above water yet.

Luckily, the year seems to fly by. Well, except for the week before his birthday, in which he can’t sleep nor eat. He swims nervously from place to place, barely able to contain his excitement.

“It’s today, it’s today, it’s today!” He chants, waking up his whole family.

They can’t help but feel happy too, he’s been waiting for this day a long time and it’s hard to be angry at him for waking them up so early.

He can’t claim victory yet, though, because the coming-of-age ceremony can’t be skipped, and he won’t be able to see the surface until nighttime.

To him, the day seems to stretch infinitely, his goal becoming more unreachable with each passing moment. He opens his presents in a rush, not even stopping to see what they are once they’re out of the wrapper. He says his sea vows as fast as the words can form in his mouth. He visits the rest of the sea creatures with a speed that would rival a sailfish. He lets his grandmother adorn his hair with a wreath made of pearls. But alas, his family won’t let him go that easily. He must spend the day with them, even if the rest of the tasks have been completed.

There’s a stillness as the sun goes down and its rays stop reaching the waters.

Rafayel turns to his family expectantly, his heart fluttering.

His grandmother nods with a smile.

He’s gone from view in an instant, only bubbles left in his wake.

He notices the water change as he goes up, the temperature, the saltiness, the pressure. There’s so much to process that he wants to scream with joy. And then- He stops.

The surface.

He can see the barrier. Where water ends and air starts. Suddenly, he finds himself feeling anxious, even scared. What if it’s not like he imagined?

Slowly, he lifts an arm and grazes the edge. His fingers retract at the odd sensation. He tries again.

He waves his hand, now strangely… Dry. That’s a first.

Taking a leap of faith, he lunges his head out. The water splashes around him and his hair sticks to his forehead. Weird.

But he’s too enthralled by what he’s seeing to be preoccupied with that. The night sky. The moon. The stars. The lack of sound. He always thought the surface was a very noisy place. Sure, his ears ring a bit, but it fades away as he gets used to the environment.

He snaps out of it, looking around. If what his brothers told him was correct, he needs to swim eastward for an hour to reach land and see the humans. He doesn’t waste a second, his tail forming waves as he swims near the surface.

Half an hour later, he sees something that completely derails his plans.

A ship. Not only a ship, but one from which fireworks are being set off.

At first he has to dive underwater and cover his ears, overwhelmed by the abundance of noise, but his desire to see the magnificent colors on display is bigger, and he peeks his head out once more. 

“What are those?” He says to no one in particular, then grabs his throat. He didn’t expect to be able to speak so clearly.

His focus goes back to the ship, curious about the source of these strange lights.

Even if his family told him not to interact with the humans, they didn’t say anything about swimming close to them, so this is fine, right?

He nears the vessel, hearing cheery voices and what sounds like music.

Using his upper body strength, honed by his constant swimming, he grabs one of the dangling ropes and pulls himself up until he can just barely see the deck.

He almost slips and lets go as he takes in the view. So many humans, dancing and laughing, right before his eyes. White-knuckling the rope, he tries to understand what’s happening.

Ah, they must be having a party. …what’s the reason for celebration?

“Princess, did your birthday party really have to be at sea? You know I get terribly nauseous!” Two women walk near the railing where Rafayel is perched.

A birthday? For a Princess? What a coincidence! He’s also a Prince celebrating his birthday! He looks up at the women.

“I know, but I wanted to make it special somehow, since I’m officially an adult!” She laughs.

The rope slips from his grasp and he falls into the water with a splash, covered by the sound of the fireworks.

What was that? That… Feeling. Why are his cheeks red? That girl…

He pops out of the water, searching for her face again.

“Come on, let’s dance, you’ll forget you’re out in the sea in no time!” She grabs the other woman’s arm and leads her to the center of the deck with the rest of the humans.

Thoughts form in his head about him dancing with her. If he had legs… No, that’s a wild thought.

Wait, why is he having these thoughts in the first place?

He climbs the rope again. She’s twirling, and skipping, and clapping along with the guests. The music is coming from a band playing near the mast.

Rafayel watches and watches, not noticing the smile forming in his face, or the fact that the fireworks eventually stop, or the dark clouds rolling in. 

It’s not until a lightning cracks and the wind picks up that he looks away from her and up to the skies. The humans get startled too, the music and cheer stopping.

Orders are immediately shouted to pack everything and sail back to land. Rafayel is a bit disappointed that the fun got cut short, but he jumps back in the water, intending to follow the ship back to the continent.

A wave pulls him under, and he realizes that the sea isn’t as calm as when he first emerged. The humans are lucky to have their vessel, they probably wouldn’t make it in these waters, he thinks, recalling one of his brothers telling him about a human that drowned during a storm. To him, however, this seems like a fun time.

As he resurfaces, the raindrops start hitting his face. So that’s what rain feels like. And the thing from before, that was lightning and thunder.

Sometimes, when the storm had been violent enough, he had heard the booms even while at the bottom of the sea. Of course, it was entirely different to experience it firsthand. Much scarier. 

The ship starts moving, waves crashing on its sides. The wind tousles his hair back and forth, the flashes of light becoming more frequent. He hears the humans start to panic as the ship is rocked harshly. He instinctively looks for her.

She is shouting orders and trying to calm everyone while she helps the crew, her hands slipping as she pulls on ropes due to the rain that has already soaked her.

Why aren’t they protecting her? Isn’t she the Princess? Get her out of-

There’s no time to be protective. A huge wave, double the size of the hull, crashes into the ship. It tilts to the side and capsizes, all of its passengers falling into the relentless sea.

Rafayel dives, maneuvering through debris and drowning figures.

It might be selfish of him, considering he’s about to go against his family’s orders, but he has to save her. Rational thoughts are not in the picture in a situation like this.

“Come on, come on, where are you…”

Finally, he spots her. She’s sinking, unconscious.

He tackles her as he grabs her by the waist, pulling her up and away from the chaos.

“Don’t die on me now,” he scolds her.

He manages to bring her up to the surface, but the waves are too frequent and big to let her breathe. 

His arms stay around her protectively, his grip so determined it might leave bruises, but he keeps swimming towards land without faltering, always trying to keep her as raised as possible, and by the time they reach the shore, the sun is showing its first rays.

He pants as he lays her on the beach. She’s still unconscious, though her heart hasn’t stopped.

“Good job, Rafayel, you brought her here and you don’t even know what to do now,” he  complains to himself.

With gentle hands, he moves the hair out of her face. She looks so beautiful even now. He can’t help it, he needs to kiss her.

Closing his eyes, he presses his lips to her forehead. A silent prayer for her to live.

Suddenly, the nearby forest rustles, followed by footsteps. He perks up and dives back into the water.

“Yes! They will be able to help her!” He hides behind a rock and watches.

A young man in strange robes appears. A religious figure of some kind, Rafayel thinks, comparing him to the underwater priestesses running the temple to the God of the Sea.

The young man kneels next to the Princess, then calls for help. He starts massaging her chest in a way that looks foreign to Rafayel, and soon other men appear to help him.

The Princess coughs water, leaning forward as she regains consciousness. She gasps and clutches her neck, looking around her. Her eyes fall on the young man.

“You… You saved me…” She whispers.

Rafayel dives just to scream “WHAT?”, resurfacing to watch the rest of the scene.

“Please, your Majesty, I simply found you here and did what any common person would have done. Now, let’s get you back to the castle. What happened?”

He helps her up and leads her into the forest, the other men following them.

Rafayel lets his head lean on the rock, frustrated.

“But… I was the one that saved you… That’s not fair…”

For some strange reason, this hurts him deeply. He doesn’t understand why this stranger is having such an effect on him.

Tired and upset, he decides to head back home, even if his trip to see the surface world didn’t get him far. After all, now that he’s an adult, he can visit whenever he pleases. Right now he just wants to get as far away from this place as possible.

As he swims back, his family welcomes him with a smile that soon turns to a frown as he goes past them and into his room. They look at each other, confused.

His brothers decide to ask him what happened, softly knocking on his door. There’s no answer. They open the door and find him lying face down on the bed, with his head propped on his crossed arms.

“Is everything okay, Rafayel?”

“Yes. Leave me alone.”

His brothers respect his wishes and leave him, but they still discuss what could have put him in such a mood when he was so excited to go to the surface.

The days pass, and Rafayel refuses to talk about it still. His family worries for him, because now he spends even more time in the garden with the statue, lost in thought and barely painting.

A statue that now seems akin to that Princess, no matter how different they might actually be. When he looks at it, he sees her.

In secret, he swims every morning to the surface, to that shore where he left her, but he never sees the Princess come by. This only makes his deteriorating state worse.

One day, fed up with her absence, he can’t take it any longer and he tells his brothers what happened on that day.

It turns out that one of his brothers knows who he’s talking about, because he swam by her castle once and saw her. That same day, with renewed hope, they make their way to the coast where the castle resides.

He’s ecstatic. The Princess is right there, sitting by the stone steps that lead to the beach, gazing calmly at the horizon.

For better or for worse, Rafayel now spends as much time as possible near the castle, looking at her, painting her. If she’s not there, he hides near the pier and listens to the fishermen talk about her, all the good deeds she’s doing and how lucky they are to have her as a Princess.

This fills him with joy. To have saved such a wonderful person… 

And yet, she doesn’t know of his existence.

Each day that Rafayel spends near the coast, his love for humans grows, and he always returns home with a million questions for his family, to the point that even they cannot satisfy his curiosity.

He decides to turn to his grandmother, the wisest in all of the sea when it comes to human matters.

“Can humans live for as long as us?” He asks, bright eyed.

“No, they cannot. They have shorter lives, and instead of turning into seafoam once they die, they are buried by their loved ones.”

“So I’ll watch them die?” His smile turns to a grimace.

“Yes, that is how the world works. But why are you sad about this? You get to live and enjoy the wonders of the world for longer. Humans have nothing to do with us, in any case. They find us strange, an ill omen at times. You shouldn’t worry about them so much.”

His grandmother’s words bring him back to the reality of the situation. He can’t be by her side, and will be doomed to watch her die. And she will never learn of her true savior.

No, he thinks, I cannot let this come to pass. I have to do something.

Rafayel remembers a tale told by his parents, of a dreadful Sea Witch that lives in the deepest cave of the ocean’s floor. Dreadful, but also powerful.

Determined, he sneaks out in the middle of the night to visit her.

The carcasses of several animals and fish are strewn around the jagged rocks leading to her cave, which is adorned with the remains of sunk ships. He has to dodge a few whirlpools that threaten to plunge him down into the abyss, but once he clears them, he finds himself at the cave’s entrance, only a black void to welcome him. Tentatively, he leans his head past the threshold, only to be hit by a shiver down his tail.

Gathering his courage, he swims in with determination.

At first, nothing. Darkness. A cold current his only companion.

He sighs with relief as a faintly illuminated clearing comes into view.

“I know why you’re here,” says the Witch, hearing his sigh.

Rafayel freezes, assessing the scene before him. The witch sits atop a rock, eels and water-snakes circling her playfully. Her tail sways to and fro, the bones decorating it rattling as it moves.

“How?” He swims closer, still keeping his distance.

“I know everything that goes on under and above water. You came here asking for a solution to your ails, a way to be with the one you love; the Princess,” she cackles, tapping a finger to her chin.

He feels the tip of his ears turn red. Is that what he is feeling? Love? Before he can ponder it, the witch speaks again.

“It’s an awfully stupid idea, but I can make it happen…”

“You can? What’s the catch?”

“You have to give me,” she pauses, looming closer, “your tongue.”

“What?” He retreats, putting his hand over his mouth.

“It’s no easy potion to make. To turn a creature into a different one… I’d say the price is more than fair.”

“Wait, wait, wait. First, tell me how the potion will work.”

“Your appearance will turn into that of a human. You will lose your tail, but gain a pair of legs. Of course, you will never be able to turn back, or see your family ever again. Your lifespan will also be reduced to that of a human’s. But then again, I guess that last part works in your favor, doesn’t it?” She smirks.

Rafayel stops to think about it. His mind, however, is too clouded with thoughts of the Princess and how it must be to live on the surface.

“Will it hurt?”

“Oh, greatly so. When you turn, it will feel as if your tail is being cut in half. And when you use your legs, every step will feel like knives jabbing into your feet. However, you will also be the best dancer on the surface, and every human you encounter will see you as the most handsome man they’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“This doesn’t seem like the greatest trade-off…” He crosses his arms, frowning.

“I heard the King and Queen are looking for candidates to marry their daughter. It would be a shame to visit her like you always do, and find her with a man by her side, wouldn’t it?”

The Witch’s taunts work.

“Fine. Any other annoying rules I should know about?” He rolls his eyes.

“Once you’re a human, you will have to win the Princess’s heart. Just to remind you, since I’m taking your tongue, you won’t be able to talk.”

“Then, how…”

“You’re an artist, aren’t you? I’m sure you have enough creativity to think of a way to charm her,” she dismisses the thought with her hand. “As I was saying, she has to fall in love with you, and marry you. If she, by any chance, marries another, you will become seafoam as soon as the next morning’s sun rays start to shine.”

“That won’t happen. I can do this easily. She will love me in no time,” he smirks, shaking his head.

“Then, shall we begin?”

She moves to the center of the clearing, where a cauldron stands. She pricks her finger and lets a drop fall into the swirling liquid.

“Well? Come closer and stick your tongue out.”

Rafayel, a bit hesitant, leans over the cauldron and looks inside. The blood-dyed solution reflects his face, and as he opens his mouth and sticks his tongue out, he closes his eyes so he won’t have to see the damage being done.

A sharp sting rips the muscle out. He recoils, closing his mouth and using his hands to cover it. Blood fills the cavity and slips out through his lips, rising in plumes as it dissolves in the water. The Witch laughs.

He opens his eyes in time to see her pocketing his tongue and starting to throw more ingredients in, the liquid bubbling and smoking.

Then, it subsides. What’s left is a strangely transparent concoction that she scoops up into a vial. She extends it towards him.

Still nauseous due to the injury, he takes it with shaky hands.

“Now go. Quickly. Swim up to the shore and drink every last drop,” she ushers him.

Ignoring his pain-induced blurry vision, he does as she says, clutching the vial to his chest.

He doesn’t let himself think about his family, or everything that he’s leaving behind, as he swims eastward to the Princess’s castle.

A pleasant ache rises in his stomach with each moment that he gets closer, he can’t believe he’s finally going to meet the Princess. The one he loves. Yes, love. He’s certain about that now.

The castle comes into view as the sun starts to rise. He crawls out of the water and lays in the sand, opening the vial and swallowing its contents. For a moment, he’s grateful he doesn’t have a tongue so he doesn’t have to taste it, its smell already pungent enough.

As the last drop goes down his throat, he feels a pain worse than having his tongue cut. His tail being sliced in two, no, butchered in two. He can’t help the scream that comes out of his lungs.

The pain is so unbearable that ultimately he faints.

When he wakes, a figure is kneeling by his side, gently sweeping his hair out of his eyes. The Princess.

He turns red, looking around. He wants to say so many things, do so many things.

The first thing he notices is the fabric that now rests on top of him. Him. His legs. That’s the second thing he notices. He has legs! And he’s… Naked. The Princess must have covered him while he was unconscious.

“Who are you?” The Princess asks, tilting her head in curiosity.

Rafayel opens his mouth only to close it. He can’t speak. He points to himself, then to the Princess. Not looking her in the eyes, of course, he’s too embarrassed for that.

“You… Are me?” She giggles. “Let me guess… You can’t speak?”

He nods, clutching the fabric, which he now realizes is a long coat, and brings it closer around him.

“Do you have a family? Anyone that can help you?”

He looks to the sea for a moment, then shakes his head.

“Hmm… Okay, come to the palace with me. We’ll sort things out there. Can you walk?” She stands up, offering her hand to help him up.

Taking her hand, he manages to prop himself on his two legs. They wobble a bit, but that’s the least of his concerns, needles, pricks and knives digging into the soles of his feet.

The sudden pain, which he forgot would happen, makes him stumble and crash against the Princess. She catches him by the shoulders, which only manages to embarrass him further, his face now so close to the Princess’s.

“You just woke up after being unconscious, your legs are probably not fully recovered yet. Here, lean on me while we walk.” She extends her arm.

He takes it, his attention fully focused on the places his hand touches hers.

They walk into the castle, and the King and Queen welcome him warmly, feeling sorry for his situation.

He gets dressed in the finest clothes while a room is arranged for him. Every person he encounters is instantly charmed by his good looks and silent grace, just like the Sea Witch said.

He spends his time alongside the Royal family, his gaze never straying far from the Princess.

The first day he wakes up in the castle, he’s invited to an event that will take place that afternoon: A suitor from a far land is visiting, intending to win the Princess’s heart and marry her. Hearing the news, he dresses in the best clothing at his disposal and marches with his head high into the throne room. The Royal family lets him stand next to the Princess, who’s sitting expectantly with her hands on her lap. She gives him a smile before looking forward.

The doors open and the Prince and his servants march forward. Rafayel rolls his eyes.

After the formal introductions by both Royals, Rafayel learns that it is custom of this kingdom for the Princess to dance with any suitors she might have, to his horror. 

He watches as the Princess dances with the Prince, a fond smile on her face as she glides effortlessly in his arms.

If only she knew how much I’ve given up just to be with her, he thinks.

Once the Prince is gone, the Princess speaks quite highly of him and his dancing skills, since she loves to dance.

Rafayel remembers that the witch told him he’d be the best dancer on the surface, and instantly steps towards the Princess, extending his hand.

“Oh? You like to dance as well? Well, now I’m curious!” She takes it.

The pain is unmatched, but so is his grace, the emotion that fills his eyes as he leads her across the ballroom. She is so impressed that she asks him to be his dance partner from now on, to dance with her everyday.

Rafayel chooses to ignore the blinding pain coursing through his legs and agrees, nodding and smiling.

The second day, just as the Princess said, she dances with him.

“I’ve been thinking,” she says as they dance, “that since you have nowhere to go, and you seem to have settled just fine to life in the castle, I could appoint you as my personal servant. I quite enjoy your company.”

His eyes light up at the idea, and he nods enthusiastically.

Cut, burn, tear, scream his feet at the one - two - three waltz rhythm.

He is given a chamber next to the Princess, so he may be near her at all times, as well as clothes that show his new status.

Rafayel can’t believe his luck, he’s sure they’ll get married soon if things continue like this.

That evening, he finds some painting supplies and asks for permission to use them, which is granted as soon as they see his prowess. He insists on making a portrait of the Princess. She is delighted, praising him left and right.

But at night, he paints the sea. He opens his window and captures the waves, the moon reflecting off its surface.

The third day, after dancing, the Princess takes him out horse riding. This gives him relief, since he can enjoy her company without sacrificing his feet.

But a new problem arises, he doesn’t know how to ride a horse.

“Don’t worry,” she says as she sees him confused about what to do, “you can ride with me. Sit behind me and hold on tight.”

He settles carefully behind her, turning red once more as he puts his hands on her waist and feels her warmth against his chest. He can smell her perfume, her hair tickling his neck.

The horse starts moving with her silent command, and soon they are crossing a forest, the low leaves tousling their hair. It’s peaceful, only birdsong filling the atmosphere. He sees flowers. So many. And he can’t help but wonder how they’d look if he used them for his paintings, instead of the algae he used in the past.

He ends up collecting a whole bouquet with the Princess’s help, who’s eager to see how they will look as pigments as well.

This day couldn’t get any better, he thinks.

“I have an idea. There’s a mountain nearby with a wonderful view from its top. Shall we go?”

Rafayel nods without a second thought.

Once they arrive at the mountain trail, she gets off the horse.

“The path is narrow and rocky in some parts, so we have to go on foot. But don’t worry, it’s a short hike.”

Of course it is, why did I agree so fast…

So they walk, having tied the horse to a nearby tree, they make their way up. And though it may be short, Rafayel’s feet don’t let up. For all he knows, they could be bleeding.

A small relief is the fact that the view is indeed wonderful when they arrive.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She smiles, taking in the puffy clouds, the setting sun, the ocean disappearing in the horizon.

He nods, looking at her.

The fourth day, after dancing and strolling through the town, Rafayel leaves the castle once the sun has set to cool his feet on the shore. He sits on the sand and sighs. His feet look fine, but they feel like they’ve been mutilated.

The sea is calm, and he takes a moment to reminisce about his family.

As if his prayers were heard, a head pops out from the water. And another. And a few more. His brothers.

“Rafayel!” They swim closer, disbelief in their eyes as they see his legs.

“What happened? You disappeared! Why do you have…”

He tries to explain, to no avail. He points to the castle, then to himself. After some back and forth between the brothers, they seem to get the gist of it.

They decide to come visit Rafayel every night after this.

The fifth day, as they both sit in the garden, him painting, her reading, enjoying each other’s company, she closes her book and looks at him, her expression unreadable.

He stops painting to look at her too.

“You remind me of someone… A man that saved me not long ago. Have I told you this story?”

He shakes his head, although he knows the story she’s about to tell.

“On my last birthday, which I celebrated on the open sea, there was a terrible storm, and the ship capsized. I thought I’d die, but I awoke on the shore, a man by my side. At that time I knew he was the one who had saved me, brought me back to life. I fell in love immediately, and I think he’s the only man I could ever feel this way about…”

Rafayel suppresses the urge to bang his head against the canvas he’s working on.

“But, like I said, you remind me of him. I know you’re not him, of course, but with each moment that I spend with you, I forget him more, and I find myself wanting to be by your side, instead of his. In any case, I could never be with him, for he is a holy man and belongs to the temple.”

The urge goes away, now replaced by butterflies in his stomach.

This is perfect, he thinks, she’s growing to love me, I’ll marry her in no time.

Filled with joy, he leans forward to embrace her. She laughs, hugging him back and kissing his cheek, after which she returns to her reading.

He’s blushing, his heart beating out of his chest, his eyes sparkling. True happiness is near.

The sixth day, the King and Queen receive news of a suitor that will be visiting later that day. Both the Princess and Rafayel are annoyed by this visit.

“I’m forced to welcome him, but I won’t marry him,” she confides in Rafayel that morning. “If I had to choose someone to marry, I’d choose you.”

He smiles, his expression turning to surprise and then embarrassment as she leans forward and kisses him on the lips. One of her hands runs through his hair, while the other lays on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. He returns the kiss timidly, his hands cupping her face. In that moment, he truly feels as if all the sacrifices he made were worth it.

The time of the visit draws near, and the Royal family gets ready to welcome the suitor. While they wait, a servant comments: “I heard the visiting Prince has been studying abroad in a temple in our kingdom, to learn how to be a virtuous ruler.”

This catches the attention of both the Princess and Rafayel.

It’s then that the doors of the castle fly open, revealing the Prince and his entourage.

“It’s him,” the Princess whispers, breathless.

She stands up and walks towards him, surprising everyone in the room.

“It was you who saved me.”

The Prince smiles and nods. She embraces him, his arms wrapping softly around her. Then she turns towards Rafayel.

“Isn’t this wonderful? I’m so happy!” She takes Rafayel’s hands. “My wishes came true…  I hope your wishes come true too, my dearest friend.” She smiles sincerely.

He returns the smile, his eyes looking right through her.

The seventh day, they are to be married. Both kingdoms want to ally as soon as possible, and seeing the love the Prince and Princess have for each other, they decide not to delay it further.

Rafayel already feels his heart breaking. He will turn into seafoam come tomorrow morning.

The whole city celebrates, music and cheer in every corner. There’s decorations, and food, and the smell of flowers permeating the air.

The ceremony takes place in the biggest ship the kingdom owns, citizens and Royalty alike invited. They both say their vows, having only eyes for each other.

Rafayel doesn’t even register the words being said. He thinks about the fact that this is his last day alive. How he lost everything. His family, his body, his home, his voice, his love. His life.

Fireworks go off as the ceremony comes to a close, reminding him of that first night he met the Princess. What a blissful dream that first sight of her had been.

He joins the rest of the dancing crowd. He doesn’t care about the pain anymore. It’s his last day, he might as well go all out. His last day seeing the Princess, the sea, the starry sky he once thought he would never witness.

He sees the happy couple, chatting and laughing in each other’s embrace.

The celebrations continue until midnight, when the couple retires for the night and the rest of the guests go to their respective rooms below the deck.

Rafayel stays behind, leaning against the railing and watching the waves, the sea breeze almost a comforting balm.

There, amongst the waves, his brothers appear. As they peek out of the water, he notices their hair has been cut.

“We visited the Sea Witch,” they explain with low voices, “Word reached that the Princess was to be married, but not to you, so we asked her for a solution so that you won’t die. She asked for our hair as payment.”

Rafayel listens with hope. Things might not turn out so bad, after all. Even if he doesn’t have the Princess by his side, at least he’ll return with his family.

“Here, take his knife.”

He does, looking at it with confusion.

“You must plunge it into the Princess’s heart before sunrise, and when the blood falls on your legs, they’ll turn once more into a tail, allowing you to return to the sea. You won’t turn into sea foam, brother!” They all smile.

But he stares at the knife with empty eyes, unsure.

He nods and makes his way to the Princess’s chambers. Everything is quiet as he turns the knob and enters.

Step by painful step, he approaches the bed. They are both asleep, her head resting on his chest. He moves to her side and carefully peels back the covers.

Through the window, he sees the sky turning rosy, a sign that dawn is near. He makes haste and leans to kiss her forehead for one last time, like he once did when she was unconscious on the shore, wishing for her to live, only to pull back as he hears her whisper the Prince’s name in dreams.

His hands tremble as he grips the knife. He, who had lost so much, who loves her so much.

He can’t do it. He throws the knife out of the window. The water turns red as it lands.

Rafayel looks at the Princess once more, his mind and heart broken, yet filled with only her. Her. Her.

He sees the first rays of daylight as he jumps off the window.

By the time his body makes contact with the sea, he’s turned into pure sea foam.

A/N: It felt right to post this on Raf's birthday, hehe. To be honest, I'm not entirely satisfied with the way this turned out, although that might be my perfectionism. However, I do encourage any writers reading this to try to write this in their style! Thank you for reading and I will see y'all in therapy <3

Bonus: A song and a meme.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Common Acorn Barnacles on Call

Semibalanus balanoides, more commonly known as the common acorn barnacle or the northern acorn barnacle, is a widespread species of barnacle found all along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America and the intertidal zone of Europe-- though it is notably absent from the Bay of Biscay. Its range is limited by the temperature of the water in which it breeds; in the winter, they require water as cold as 7.2 °C (45.0 °F), but throughout the rest of the year they can tolerate much warmer climates.

Like many barnacle species, S. balanoides is hermaphroditic, meaning it has both male and female reproductive organs. Once the water reaches the optimal temperature, typically in November or December, the barnacles begin to breed. An individual will reach out with a penis that can be up to 7.5 centimetres (3.0 in), and inseminate a nearby barnacle; this process may be repeated up to eight times between a single pair. After insemination, the penis disintegrates to be regrown the following year.

In the meantime, the fertilized barnacle will produce up to 10,000 eggs that are stored in a special sac within the shell cavity. The common acorn barnacle releases its eggs between February and April, in concert with warming waters and the spring algal bloom. The eggs then hatch into miniscule larvae, which spend several weeks feeding on plankton in the water column and going through a series of molts. Following the sixth molt, the larvae stops feeding and seeks out a suitable place on which to anchor itself. Once it has found a surface, the larval barnacle 'crawls' along the surface until it encounters one of its own species. At this point, they will attach themselves with a cement-like glue which is capable of supporting up to 3,200 kg (7,000 lbs) Here, a single northern acorn barnacle may live anywhere from one to seven years.

Adult S. balanoides are identified by the white, six-sided limestone casing with which they protect themselves. However, one unique feature of this species is the way in which they attach themselves to their chosen surfaces; unlike other barnacles, which have a hard calcified shell base, the northern acorn barnacle has a membranous base. Within their shells, they have rather soft bodies, including a set of feathered appendages called cirri with which they use to breathe and collect food.

The common acorn barnacle is a filter feeder, consuming microscopic plankton and bits of detritus from the water column. Though their hard shells deter most predators, adults are vulnerable to other predatory invertebrates like dogwelks, nudibranches, and sea stars, as well as fish like the shanny that are specialist feeders of barnacles.

Conservation status: The common acorn barnacle has not been assessed by the IUCN. The species is extremely common and very resilient, and in fact has been in existence since the Jurassic period. However, rising ocean temperatures may negatively affect their breeding period.

If you like what I do, consider leaving a tip or buying me a kofi!

Photos

Neil DeMaster

Oregon State Parks and Recreation

Kim Hanson via Wikimedia commons

[catnoli]

lil epaulette and sea bunnies hanging out 🫧☁️🦈 the 9 month reward sticker for silly society members!! it’s going to be a clear sticker and im so excited to see how it turns out!! it’s so exciting especially because weve reached over 100 members in silly society, thank you thank you thank you ^_^ check out silly society here!

[shirecorn]

waiting on a mermay order?

Here's how it's going

Fish:

hell yeah I love fish. Most of you who ordered a fish have received it via ko-fi message. If I haven't done your fish yet, I'm working on it. These are easy and it's simply a matter of sitting down and doing it. I usually only sketch once and take the first thing I draw straight to finish.

The glass fish is on the backburner because i have to finish designing mermaid internal organs before I start.

Sharks:

These ones take slightly longer because I have to test out a couple different tricks to make the face look right. They've all been sketched at least. Also they are not ray-finned fish, and thus their mermaid counterpart is an imitation of their physiology rather than an offshoot from it.

Mollusks (octopus, squid, cuttlefish, nudibranchs, clams):

I had to design a new humanoid from the ground up, since these are not vertebrates and therefore can't be mermaids, as mermaids are evolved from fish. I did a couple hours of visdev the last few weeks, and have finally figured out a body plan I like. Since I know what the gimmick is, I can start on the individual species ordered and draw from sketch to finish just like the mermaids.

Arthropods (all the people who wanted crabs and shrimps):

Yet another creature I have to build from the ground up. I need to do a lot of visdev to get to a point where I can start. Every time there is a new phylum introduced, I start from scratch.

Seals:

Just a matter of starting! These will be selkies. I need to draw both a human form and a seal form, so it's double the work. I tend to prefer fish for that reason.

If you would like to see works in progress, my visual development process, realtime worldbuilding, and see fresh mermaids as soon as they are done, check out my discord!

[plaguedocboi]

Does your aquarium workplace have any protocols on handling animal species that might be difficult to feed due to finicky preferences? Lets say the team offer it foods A, B, C on day 1 then if rejected, D, E, F on day 3. I recall you were saying you managed to figure out what the moon snails feed on! My lab is stuck with a few nudibranchs from live rocks which we intend to return to the supplier but our prof is adamant that we try something first for a week :/

We basically just keep trying until we find something that works. Mollusks are strange little guys tbh, I’ve found that they either accept everything you give them or they’re extremely picky and it varies between individuals. They are also easily stressed and might stop eating for a while if they’ve been through a difficult time (say, getting shipped to a new home).

Nudibranchs often have very specialized diets, for instance there are species that exclusively feed on barnacles or certain types of algae, so I recommend identifying the species and doing some research to see what they’re known to eat. If they still refuse, it may be best to just return them. Luckily mollusks tend to have pretty slow metabolisms so they can frequently go a few weeks without food.

[rnbwtrout]

Woe, Splatoon OC sketch dump be upon ye. Alby (Inkling) is mine, Isla (nudibranch) and Davy (octoling) are my friends'. Band name pending. The drawing with the roller is before I added more design details haha

Supposed to be on hiatus but I had gone like two weeks without drawing and I went feral today and drew like 7 pages in my sketch book

[wikipediapictures]

the nudibranchs are coming back this week 🥰