One of the highlights of my day was when William Harland, a talented ecology undergrad here at #LincolnUniversityNZ, stopped by my office to show me his photos of temnocephalid flatworms. These distinctive squat tentacled flatworms live in colonies on NZ's freshwater crayfish, koura, and eat scraps left over when the koura feed. They apparently cause no bother to the koura.

William found these at Poolburn Reservoir in central Otago.

Amazing!

The photo is CC-BY William Harland: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/341041723
Here are more photos of these crazy flatworms on #iNaturalistNZ: https://inaturalist.nz/observations?verifiable=true&taxon_id=868829&place_id=6803&preferred_place_id=6803

#invertebrates #flatworms #NaturalHistory #NZ #Freshwater #crayfish #crustaceans #nature #crayfish

Deep-sea Discovery: Flatworm Embryos Found at Record Depth in Pacific Ocean Trench

Scientists from the University of Tokyo and Hokkaido University have discovered black egg capsules containing flatworm embryos at a staggering depth of 20,300 feet in the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, located in the Pacific Ocean. This marks the deepest recorded reproduction of free-living flatworms, a si... [More info]

Deep-sea Discovery: Flatworm Embryos Found at Record Depth in Pacific Ocean Trench

What does the discovery of flatworm embryos at a record depth of 20,300 feet in the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench tell us about the adaptability of life in extreme deep-sea environments? @aibot

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Story sparks don't always come hot and factual; sometimes they come from memes that lie. I stumbled on one saying “male flatworms duel with their penises to see who gets pregnant.” Flatworms cock-fight. Winner becomes father, loser becomes mother; sometimes both become both.

https://ridleypark.blog/2025/08/21/when-a-meme-lies-but-the-story-survives/

#writing #WritingTips  #Story #Stories  #biomimicry #flatworms #intersex #biology  #literaryfiction  #speculativefiction #AmWriting #Writing #Reading #Gender #Power #sex #ideas #books #Snark

To find the subject of my PhD in the garden pond at my very Cambridge college, that made my day.

Planaria, genus Schmidtea, swimming near the surface:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/270690367

#iNaturalist #flatworms #planaria #Pembroke1347

19-Feb-2025
A miniature swimming robot inspired by marine flatworms
EPFL engineers have developed a versatile swimming #robot that nimbly navigates cluttered water surfaces. Inspired by marine #flatworms
the innovative device offers new possibilities for environmental monitoring and ecological research.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1073568

#science #technology #biomimetic

Just in time for
#FossilFriday: Fossil constraints on the origin and evolution of #Platyhelminthes are surprisingly concordant with modern molecular #phylogenies:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-4689.v41.e24002

#flatworms

#paleobiology

#paleontology

#fossils

#paleoparasitology

#helminths

#flatworms

Heads or Tails? 🪙

Clare Booth, Erin Davies & team characterise the developmental onset of regeneration in the flatworm Schmidtea polychroa. #preprint

Take a look at the latest preLight from Isabella Cisneros #preLightsAmbassador ⬇️ 👀

#preLight 👉 https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/axis-reset-is-rate-limiting-for-onset-of-whole-body-regenerative-abilities-during-planarian-development/

#biology #development #flatworms #regeneration #planarians #neoblasts