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Bruce H. Robison: 4 ideas worth knowing

4 ideas from Bruce H. Robison, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• A deep-sea octopus guarded her eggs for four and a half years without eating

  Marine biologists tracked a Graneledone boreopacifica octopus off California brooding a single clutch of eggs for 53 months, the longest known brooding period of any animal. She ne…

  — Bruce H. Robison, Brad A. Seibel, Jeffrey Drazen, Deep-Sea Octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica) Conducts the Longest-Known Egg-Brooding Period of Any Animal

• This deep-sea fish's tubular eyes rotate inside its own transparent, fluid-filled head

  The barreleye fish, Macropinna microstoma, has a dome of clear, fluid-filled tissue covering its head, through which its barrel-shaped, tube-like eyes are visible. For decades scie…

  — Bruce H. Robison, Kim R. Reisenbichler, Macropinna microstoma and the Paradox of Its Tubular Eyes

• One octopus guarded her eggs for four and a half years without eating again

  In 2007, researchers using a remote submersible repeatedly found the same deep-sea octopus, a Graneledone boreopacifica, clinging to a rock ledge off California guarding a clutch o…

  — Bruce H. Robison, Brad A. Seibel, Jeffrey Drazen, Deep-sea Octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica) Conducts the Longest-known Egg-brooding Period of Any Animal

• The vampire squid doesn't drink blood, and fires glowing decoys instead of ink

  Despite its name, the vampire squid feeds passively on falling detritus called marine snow, caught with a sticky filament it trails through the deep ocean. Living in waters with al…

  — Bruce Robison et al., Deep-Sea Observations of the Vampire Squid, Vampyroteuthis infernalis

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