Tiger Grouper (Mycteroperca tigris)

What: Tiger Grouper (Mycteroperca tigris).

Click here to learn about the Tiger Grouper.

Where: I took this photo of the Tiger Grouper at Providenciales,

in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

The Blue Sphinx nudibranch (Phyllidiopsis sphingis)

by B. N. Sullivan

Here's an attractive nudibranch from Hawaii.  It is commonly known as the Sphinx Nudibranch, or the Blue Sphinx.  Its scientific name is Phyllidiopsis sphingis.

This is a small critter -- only about one inch (2.5 cm) in length -- although the macro photo at right might make you think it is larger.  It is thought to eat sponges, but not a whole lot is known about its habits.

The species is relatively uncommon.  It is found in Hawaii, and also has been seen in other Pacific locations such as Guam and Papua New Guinea.  I photographed this specimen off the coast of Hawaii's Big Island, near Puako.

When the species was first discovered, it was thought to belong to the Phyllidia genus.  It was later assigned correctly to the Phyllidiopsis genus.  The two genera resemble one another externally, but biologists can distinguish them once they are dissected because their innards are quite different -- specifically, the structures of their digestive systems are dissimilar.

Now, about that name. Phyllidiopsis sphingis was named by Dr. David J. Brunckhorst of the University of New England, in Australia.  He was the one who identified the species, so he got to name it.  He explains his choice of names this way: "Phyllidiids with their lumps, bumps, ridges and bright colours often give the image of tiny monsters; hence, P. sphingis was given the fun name derived from the Sphinx - the mythical monster at Thebes who posed riddles for the people passing by and consumed them if they could not answer!"

Sleepy Sea Turtle

What: Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas).
More sea turtles here.

Where: I took this photo of the sea turtle napping at Pulau Sipadan,

off the coast of Borneo.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Search me! (The Google Search Meme)

A few days ago, Rick, over at Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice & Sunsets, came up with a game based on Google search.

It goes like this:

Open-up a browser window to Google and enter a string of words (that are NOT your blog title) that still delivers your blog as the top-ranked search result.

Rick had so much fun with this, he decided to turn it into a meme. He tagged Eric at The Other 95%, and then Eric tagged us.

Now, to be honest, we're not particularly fond of most memes. We usually cringe when we are tagged and -- since we are salty ol' curmudgeons -- most often politely decline to play. This time we accepted, because this one really sounded like fun.

So then, here are a dozen terms that yield pages of The Right Blue in the number one spot on Google search results:

1. Jerry dives
2. clinging crab
3. dainty bryozoans
4. humpback jackknife
5. lizardfish bling
6. vocal visitations
7. cross-eyed cone shell
8. ninja divers express
9. Puako petting zoo
10. reef sexy stuff
11. tiger shark landlord
12. exotic underwater nudies

Note that when you search on 'exotic underwater nudies' Google coyly asks, "Did you mean exotic underwater nudes?" But of COURSE we didn't mean THAT!! What kind of blog does Google think we're running here?! There's nothing NSFW here on The Right Blue!

As Eric observed, "to be a meme it has to be self replicating" -- which means we now need to tag a few other bloggers. We hereby tag Andrew, Chris, Will, Sheila, and Lavenderbay to participate in this meme, if they would like to do so. And if any of our other readers would like to play, please do join in -- and tell us in the comments so that we all can visit your blogs and marvel at the amazing terms that bring you search traffic.

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UPDATE Mar. 3, 2009:

• Andrew's response to the Google search meme has been posted on his blog, A Darker View.
• Lavenderbay, another meme participant, has posted her response on her blog, Voice of the Turtle.