Who am I??? I am a...

It's finally here! The day you've all been waiting for! The answer to my World Oceans Day riddle!!! ;o)

First of all I just wanted to give a big thank you to Kim from Snug Harbour Bay whose holiday photos from Sanibel Island gave me the idea to choose this critter, and her daughter Chablis who kindly sent me a series of photos she took so I could use them in this post! :o)

Let's start by reviewing the clues, which I've enhanced with a few links to useful information. Try and figure it out as we go along, no cheating by jumping to the end! :p
 

1. I am a LIVING FOSSIL! I am very old. I pre-date flying insects, dinosaurs and man.

2. I am a marine animal, with only four species alive today.

3. My closest living relatives are found on land. (I do have one lesser-known distant cousin who still lives in the ocean like me)

Who am I? (5)

It's the final day in the World Oceans Day guessing game!!! And these last three clues pretty much give it all away! You'll get the full scoop on our mystery critter tomorrow during the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon!

Ready?  

Set? 

GO!!!

13. My first pair of appendages, which I use to place food in my mouth, are called chelicerae. They're present in all my relatives, which is why our subphylum is called the Chelicerata.

14. Some people find my shape reminds them of a horseshoe...

15. My name is a misnomer! I am not a crab!!! (but we are distantly related)

WHO AM I???

Who am I? (4)

Ready for the next batch of clues in our World Oceans Day guessing game? If you think you know who it is, perhaps these will help you confirm your guess! If not... maybe these will be the ones to guide you to an answer. Good luck!

Remember: you'll get the answer this Friday in time for the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon!

Here are today's clues:

10. I come out at night to eat worms and small molluscs, but hide (usually in the sand) during the day.

11. If I'm a male I'm smaller than the females and my first pair of "legs", the pedipalps, are modified as a grasping appendage so I can hold on to the female during spawning.

12. We (males and females) meet up on the beach during spawning season (May-June). I detect her through the pheromones she releases, and "hold on" to her as she lays the clutches of eggs while I fertilize them.

WHO AM I?

Who am I? (3)

Day three means three new clues to help you identify the mysterious oceanic critter!
Maybe these will be the ones to help you figure it out?
You'll get the answer on Friday in time for the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon!

Here are your new clues!

7. I have two compound lateral eyes and five simple eyes on my carapace. 

8. I "breathe" (capture oxygen from the water) using book gills (flat, leaflike gills), present on some of my abdominal appendages.

9. I am a true blue-blood! (You can call me "your highness"!) This is because my blood uses hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin to carry oxygen. The copper present in the hemocyanin makes it blue!

WHO AM I?

Previous clues here and here. New clues tomorrow! 

Who am I? (2)

Day two of our World Oceans Day guessing game, and three new clues to help you identify the mysterious oceanic critter! The riddle will be solved on Friday in time for the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon!

Here are your new clues! (first batch of clues here)

4. I can walk using my five pairs of walking legs. I have an extra pair of cephalothorax appendages which I use to get food to my mouth. These have a special name which I won't share just yet 'cause they might give the whole game away! ;o)

5. I can swim ("upside down"!) using my abdominal plates (fused abdominal appendages)

6. I have a hard dorsal shell called a carapace and a long needle-shaped tailpiece called a telson. In order to grow in size I will have to molt, shed my shell, several times during my life.

WHO AM I?

Newer clues here.

Who am I? (1)

 

Since it seemed to be quite popular last year and the year before (follow the links and try to guess!), my contribution to the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon this year is going to be another marine animal guessing game! Five posts with three clues each... feel free to ask questions or guess the answer in the comments!

Friday I'll post the answer and launch the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon. I sure hope you're planning on joining in! ;o)

Now... let the World Oceans Day guessing game begin!!!

1. I am very old. I pre-date flying insects, dinosaurs and man.

2. I am a marine animal, with only four species alive today.

3. My closest living relatives are found on land. (I do have one lesser-known distant cousin who still lives in the ocean like me)

WHO AM I???

(You didn't think I'd make it easy right at the beginning, did you?) ;o)

More clues here.

Mystery Fish for WOD

Happy World Oceans Day!!! 

Shall we have a lovely little fishy celebration? ;o)

Over the past several days I've been leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to help you figure out whom I've chosen to celebrate WOD:

• 1. I'm a marine fish (although some people might think I don't look like one)
• 2. I can been found in deep and shallow and warm and temperate waters all over the world

• 3. I've got a mouthful of teeth and my bite can have very nasty consequences
• 4. But I'm shy so if I bite you it was probably your fault! (see story here)

• 5. I'm usually nocturnal. That means I prefer coming out of my hiding place (in crevices or holes) at night to look for food.
• 6. I rely on my sense of smell to find my prey, so if you're a stinky dead critter all the better for me! I help clean up the sea bottom of rotting corpses. But I also hunt for small tasty critters to munch on! ;o) 

• 7. I'm part of a big family: around 200 species ranging in size from 10 cm to over 2 m in length and many different possible colours.
• 8. We might vary in size and colour, but we pretty much all have an elongated body which flattens a bit towards the end and we have a single dorsal fin and a ventral fin.

Final Fishy Clues!

Last two clues in our fishy guessing game! Have you figured it out yet? These two should confirm any guesses you might have made! Might also help if I reminded you that many of those clues are things I've told you about this fish in a Fishy Fridays episode... did anyone remember that? ;o)

Final clues:

9. I look like a snake

10. I've played a villain in a Disney movie

So, tomorrow is WORLD OCEANS DAY!!!  :o)

And Saturday the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon begins! You've got until Sunday evening to finish up with your posts! ;o)

Fishy Clues 7 & 8

Two more clues!!!

7. I'm part of a big family: around 200 species ranging in size from 10 cm to over 2 m in length and many different possible colours.

8. We might vary in size and colour, but we pretty much all have an elongated body which flattens a bit towards the end and we have a single dorsal fin and a ventral fin.

Fishy clues 5 & 6

Ready for a couple more clues about the mystery fish? ;o)

5. I'm usually nocturnal. That means I prefer coming out of my hiding place (in crevices or holes) at night to look for food.

6. I rely on my sense of smell to find my prey, so if you're a stinky dead critter all the better for me! I help clean up the sea bottom of rotting corpses. But I also hunt for small tasty critters to munch on! ;o) 

Remember, World Oceans Day and the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon are just a couple of days away!!!

Fishy Clues 3 & 4

Continuing with the Fishy Guessing Game for World Oceans Day this Friday June 8th...

3. I've got a mouthful of teeth and my bite can have very nasty consequences

4. But I'm shy so if I bite you it was probably your fault!

Who am I?

Fishy clues 1 & 2

World Oceans Day is this Friday!!!

And in preparation for my Oceanic Blog-A-Thon post I'm going to feed you little clues like a goldfish gets morsels of fish food... a couple a day! I'm currently off on a sailing trip so I won't be able to tell you if you've guessed right (but please do try in the comments, will be fun to see who got it!), you'll have to wait and see when the main post goes up! That will either be Friday if I am able to finish it in time while I have an internet connection, or Saturday when I get home. I hope you're working on your WOD's post! ;o)

Here go the first two clues:

1. I'm a marine fish (although some people might think I don't look like one)

2. I can been found in deep and shallow and warm and temperate waters all over the world

Any ideas?