Thanks, the Philip Ball books look amazing

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I've got a ton to learn. Most of the time I'm just trying to see what's possible with the medium. It's difficult. I learned right away that it pays to get good supplies and paper.

Simple watercolour of a blue Tang, mostly blue body, yellow tail and top of pectoral fins, black swirls on body.

Long time since I posted a #SundayFishSketch. All my previous art was digital. I was challenged to dabble in watercolour and here's a first attempt. Blue Tang. #SciArt

Calappa, a dome-shaped crab in dark color, seen from the front. Behind its body and in front, hiding its claws and most of its face, are phalaenopsis, moth orchids with roughly circular shape, in lighter colors. Black and white drawing.

Coenobita, a bright-colored hermit crab barely out of a white round shell, looking adorable. Under and around it are leaves of Macodes jewel orchids, dark leaves with white streaks. Behind it are stalks of flower buds of the plant. Black and white drawing.

Paromola, a crab with long legs and spikes all over. The last pair of its legs are small and pointing up like carrying a tray. It's carrying a whole plant of Paphiopedilum slipper orchid in bloom. The four flowers have pitcher-like structures and long ribbony bits that trail very far downwards. Black and white drawing.

Four Allogalathea crabs sitting on the petals of a flower. The crabs are shaped like lobsters with folded tail and black and white stripy bodies. The Vanda orchid flower is mostly white with black spots all over. Black and white drawing.

Happy Crablentine's Day everyone.

Calappa calappa x Phalaenopsis amabilis
Coenobita rugosus x Macodes petola
Paromola cuvieri x Paphiopedilum sanderianum
Allogalathea elegans x Vanda suavis

#Art #SciArt

A very rough single line sketch of a red swordtail

Single line drawing of a red swordtail for this week's #SundayFishSketch theme. #SciArt

Drawing of a Ruffe, invasive to the Great Lakes. This fish has a large spiked dorsal fin, and is mostly beige with blue green speckles in its lower body.

A drawing of a ruffe, species uncertain. They are invasive in the Great Lakes and outcompetes several native fish. #SundayFIshSketch. #SciArt

An almost black flying beetle with sharp looking point legs.

For #Invertefest An ox beetle, I think. Strategist sp. This one flies around at night as if blind, bumping into things and buzzing around wildly. Quite large, maybe an inch long.

Me too, not in Dallas

A face or shiner, active fish, schooling, male in breeding color is pinkish brown, with blue edged scales and reddish fins. Blue patch near and on gills.

This week's #SundayFishSketch riddle... Rainbow dace=red horse minnow=red shiner... There's probably a few more name variants. #SciArt

Perfect!

A leaping Chinook Salmon. Beige speckled back, pinkish sides, and a grey belly. A large hooked beak mouth.

I started a Chinook Salmon sketch for the #SundayFishSketch riddle. Couldn't decide if it was Chinook, Coho or Kokanee Salmon, or maybe another... All wrong, but I completed the sketch anyway. #SciArt

Also posted for #Crustmas

A beige crayfish, with a brown back and reddish speckles on its lower half.

Crayfish for #Crustmas and #SciArt

I tried to write about them but the bsky text length limit got in the way. It's really cool mimicry.

🦑 #marinelife

🦑

A photo of an 8 inch algae covered blue crab, spotted near Naples FL

Spotted an 8 inch blue crab in a pond near Naples FL. Reminded me of one I sketched a while back. 🦀🦑 #SciArt #MarineLife

#addOcean

#SciArt too

Eurasian Ruffe, an invasive species in North America. It is beige with grey blue fins and belly.

Eurasian Ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernua, for #SundayFishSketch theme of "blue". It's not really very blue, but has blue shades on its fins and belly. Unfortunately this is an invasive species in North America, outcompeting many native fish. I drew this as part of a study of invasive species.

A Round Goby, invasive to North America. Brownish to orange, with dark brown to black markings.

A Round Goby posted for #SundayFishSketch #SciArt This is an invasive species in North America. See www.invadingspecies.com/invaders/fis...

A sketch of a man-of-war jellyfish with colorful tentacles and a blue body

A drawing for #worldjellyfishday

Sorry I meant #SundayFishSketch

A quick pencil sketch of a mouthbreeder and 4 fry near its mouth. They protect their fry in their mouth without swallowing them... Most of the time.

Didn't have much time to draw today. A very rough sketch of a moutherbreeder Chiclid with some fry. No particular species. This is for the #SundsyFishSketch theme of "family". Mouthbreeders protect their fry in their mouth! #SciArt

A quick pencil sketch of a mouthbreeder and 4 fry near its mouth. They protect their fry in their mouth without swallowing them... Most of the time.

Didn't have much time to draw today. A very rough sketch of a moutherbreeder Chiclid with some fry. No particular species. This is for the #SundsyFishSketch theme of "family". Mouthbreeders protect their fry in their mouth! #SciArt

A sketch of a beige fish, Pycnodontiformes, overlaid on a photo of its fossil. The color beige is an assumption only.

Here's my take for this week's #SundayFishSketch .. my overlay on a photo of a fossil Pycnodontiformes. #SciArt

light beige giant millipede against a dark background. its rearing up like a cobra to show its underside, chompy chompers, and many many legs

Portrait of a 'Pede

Everyone's favorite giant millipede, Arthropleura, finally has a face 150+ years after its discovery. Most notably: it had crab-like eyestalks.

This is my unofficial take of the situation. #Art #SciArt

I meant Batesian mimicry rather than Bayesian.

A Corydoras catfish, light cream colored, a dark back and black vertical band through its eye. It exhibits 3 types of mimicry.

For this week's #SundayFishSketch with a theme of mimicry. I drew a Corydoras duplicareus catfish. In the wild, these may exhibit as many as 3 types of mimicry... Crypsis, Bayesian and Mullerian. And they really are cute. #SciArt
Reference cefishessentials.com/blog/corydor...

Phyllosoma larva riding a jellyfish, rendered in watercolor pencil, mostly blues purples and pinks. Accents in neon orange and pink pen

This is technically last week's #InsertAnInvert2024 theme, mesopelagic, representing a slipper lobster (Scyllaridae) larva riding a jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca). They are part of the largest migration on earth every night from the deep sea. I experienced this blackwater diving earlier this year

🧪🦑