Thursday, April 13, 2017

"Sea urchin emits a cloud of venomous jaws to deter predators"

Like a bullet hell obstacle:
The collector sea urchin looks like a pretty pincushion lying on the ocean floor, going about its business of munching on algae and seaweed.

But when threatened, this sedate pincushion has a most extraordinary defence. It releases a cloud of semiautonomous weapons: hundreds of tiny jaws that are still capable of biting and releasing venom even when separated from the sea urchin’s body.