Artwork Title: Little Acorns of the Sea Grow into tentacled Squids and Octopuses

Little Acorns of the Sea Grow into tentacled Squids and Octopuses, 1952

Craig Phillips

Related to the oyster and the snail, these are baby cephalopods of 6 different types, several of uncertain parentage. When startled, the little Cranchia (lower left) pulls in its head like a timid turtle. Sometimes I have spent 5 minutes examining a dish of live plankton before noticing an inch-long lobster baby that was swimming right under my nose. Even then it was revealed only as a pair of dark eyes, apparently swimming around all by themselves. I had been looking right through the body without noticing it. This transparency may make things difficult for us, but it gives un an x-ray-like ability to watch such processes as the beating of a heart. On the other hand, it must be a great advantage to a baby lobster which is being hunted by a fish to wear a cloak of invisibility that prevents the fish from seeing its prospective meal. We tried painting these transparent babies on white paper, and they looked... (https://archive.org/stream/195204_201512/1952-07#page/n73/mode/1up)
Uploaded on Apr 29, 2017 by Suzan Hamer

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