Dr. Andrew Mahon

@andyantarctica.bsky.social

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Biologist who studies animals in Antarctica, focusing on sea spiders. I also use eDNA to study biodiversity all over the globe. Views are mine. Http://icyinverts.com

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To make up for lost time....more sea spider pics! For arachnophobes...these are NOT spiders...they are Chelicerates more closely related to horseshoe crabs. These cute fuzzy lil guys are Pallanopsis pilosa, found fairly commonly around the Antarctic continental shelf. Questions? Ask me! 🧪🦑🇦🇶🧬🌎🐧

Been a hot minute....here's a sea spider to make up for it. Pentanymphon antarcticum...ten legs...more to love! adorable creature. 🧪🦑🇦🇶🌎🧬🐧

So quick poll here: if you came from the “bird” app to BlueSky: did you delete your account there? Keep both? Other?

INCREDIBLE new paper out by Amy Moran and her lab about how giant sea spiders reproduce! esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... This was the only family of sea spiders we didn’t know how they reproduced! All other families use paternal care. Amazing stuff! 🧪🧬🌎🇦🇶🦑🐧

Happy #seaspidersaturday everyone. Meet Dodecalopoda mawsonii, a member of the family of giant sea spiders (Colossendeidae) and has 12 legs! This is the only one I’ve ever collected in my many trips to Antarctica and the other pic is of one we saw via the bottom camera on our last cruise! 🦑🧪🌎🧬🐧🇦🇶

Ok…so @whysharksmatter.bsky.social do we continue traditions like #seaspidersaturday on this platform now that it’s open to all? I know hashtags are frowned upon…but…

Got to spend part of my day working up some of the samples we collected in Antarctica last year. So many exciting new stories coming from these adorable sea spiders! 🦑🌍🧪🧬🇦🇶🐧 If you have ?s about them or about doing science in Antarctica, just ask!

As someone who has spent about a year of my life working on ships in Antarctica to study benthic animals in the Southern Ocean, yes, crossing the Drake Passage can be tough…but it’s absolutely worth it! www.cnn.com/travel/artic... 🌍🐧🪱🦑🧪🇦🇶🧬

They aren’t cursed!!!! They’re adorable!!!

i skimmed the paper and found out about sea spider legs: - they're born with 4 stubby legs - when they molt they add new segments on the back, so new "proper" leg pairs grow from near the butt - the 4 stubby legs are absorbed back at some point seriously, what the hell is this cursed creature

Hey @drbarnes.bsky.social I saw this today at SICB in Seattle! Really great poster all! 🧬 #eDNA

Excited that for this seaspidersaturday my lab gets to start digging in to our latest collections including this new species of pycno…more on that one soon! 🧪🧬🌎🇦🇶🪼🐧🪱🦑

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Dr. Andrew Mahon

Talked to @andyantarctica.bsky.social for a little story about the freakish and wonderful sea spiders of the Southern Ocean 🌎🧪

Newly discovered Antarctic sea spider with 'boxing glove' claws pulled up from ocean floorwww.livescience.com A newly discovered species of sea spider was pulled up from more than 1,800 feet below the surface of Antarctica's Ross Sea.

Thanks to @ethanfreedman.bsky.social for a great article! 🌎🧬🦑🇦🇶🧪

Talked to @andyantarctica.bsky.social for a little story about the freakish and wonderful sea spiders of the Southern Ocean 🌎🧪

I made a conscious effort on our research cruise to East Antarctica to bulk up my teaching collections. Samples arrived today and I’m already geeking out! 🧪🦑🐧🇦🇶🌎🧬🪼

It’s seaspidersaturday and here’s Austropallene halanychi, our newly described species of pycnogonid! More coming soon as our ethanol samples are arriving this week! 🦑🧪e🧬🪼🇦🇶🌎

Happy Antarctica day everyone! Today we celebrate 64 years since the signing of the Antarctic Treaty on 1 December 1959. I’m thankful I’ve had the opportunity to work in this amazing place for most of my career! 🧪🦑🇦🇶🌎🧬🪼🐧

zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1082... Happy to announce a new paper by my student Jess and I. Named after a longtime colleague. 🧬🪼🌎🧪🇦🇶🪱🦑

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Dr. Andrew Mahon

While you were sleeping, I launched the "What's Environmental DNA" Feed, a collection of posts about Environmental DNA (or possibly eccentric fashion designer Edna Mode from The Incredibles). Let me know if you want to be added as a contributor, then tag posts with #eDNA to appear in the feed.

Lecturing on Porifera in my marine science class today, so here's a representation of sponges from Antarctica that we observed on our East Antarctic icyinverts research cruise in early 2023 #NBP2303...and yes, there are some sea spiders in two of those pics! 🧪🦑🌎🪼🧪🧬

For wormwednesday, I’ve got some sabellids and terebellids (feather duster and spaghetti worms) from our icyinverts research cruises to antarctica. Thanks to Dr. Candace Grimes for the ID help! 🧪🦑🌎🇦🇶🪱🪼🧬

Because I missed seaspidersaturday this week, and no one should have to go a week without sea spiders...here ya go. From the icyinverts research cruises in Antarctica, a couple of Nymphon spp., (Nymphon australe and Nymphon sp.), the latter is a dad holding eggs! 🧪🦑🌎🇦🇶🪱🧬🪼

For todays seaspidersaturday, here are a few “fuzzy” members of the Family Pallenopsidae we collected on our icyinverts cruise in East Antarctica in April 2023. 🧪🦑🧬🇦🇶🌎🪼🪱

More icyinverts research team animal pics from our research cruises in Antarctica. Some amazing creatures, including those cerolids (the things that look like trilobites!) 🧪🦑🌎🇦🇶🧬🪱🪼

A few random scale worm photos from our icyinverts research cruises in Antarctica for today's wormwednesday. These are from the continental shelf in the Peninsula area in 2006 and 2013 cruises on the ASRV LMG. 🧪🦑🌎🇦🇶🪱🪼🧬

A few photos demonstrating that there are parts of the benthos of the continental shelf in Antarctica that the icyinverts team has sampled where it's literally crawling with brittle stars! 🧪🦑🧬🌎🪼🪱🇦🇶

New week, nu...dibranch...For molluskmonday sea slug from the icyinverts research team collections in Antarctica. Collected in 2012/2013. I believe the species is Notaeolidia depressa (but please correct if that's not right). 🦑🧬🧪🌎🇦🇶🪱🪼

Not as common as other pycno species/genera in Antarctica these are Endeis spp. from our icyinverts collections for todays seaspidersaturday. All legs no frills. 🧪🦑🇦🇶🌎🪱🪼🧬

Did someone say it is squidtember? From the icyinverts archives on our 2012/13 research cruises to Antarctica...captured via plankton tow. 🦑🧪🌎🇦🇶🪼🪱🐧

From the icyinverts research cruises in Antarctica, some Osedax sp. for today's WormWednesday. Found these in a bone collected in a Blake trawl along the Antarctic Peninsula! These worms eat bones!!! 🧪🦑🇦🇶🌎🪱🪼🧬

Let’s call it ctenophore Tuesday. From our icyinverts research cruise in Antarctica… 🦑🧬🇦🇶🧪🌎🪼🪱🐧