Snakefly

Image: Malcolm Storey

Horror of all horrors! Quetzalcoatl, feathered serpent of Venus, has finally grown weary of the enraging lack of human sacrifice. Watch as the lord of storm descends upon us. His mighty wings block the sun. We are engulfed in darkness as the sky is torn asunder and the rains of flood and winds of tempest strike at the pitiable earth.

Woe to us all! Who among us will be the first sacrifice? For the plumed snake hungers for human flesh.

Bowfin

Image: Phil's 1stPix
Amia calva

In the end, there can be only one. And that one has to do all the childcare.

Gar

Image: Joachim S. Müller

Now, this is what I like to see! A big fish with long jaws packed full of sharp teeth. No messing around. You know where you are with a Gar. You're in danger of losing a finger.

Mesothele Spider

Image: Amir Ridhwan

The most ancient spiders in the world!

Jumping Bristletail

Image: Shipher (士緯) Wu (吳)

Flight? What's flight? This insect never got on board with that newfangled "wings" fad all the youngsters were talking about. Fast-forward some 350 million years and they've never been on Facebook, never taken a #selfie and have slaughtered only the tiniest handful of aliens, zombies and terrorists in their gaming career.

Call of the Belly Monster

Image: Thomas et al
Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis in mid call

How can you resist the lilting song of the Indian Purple Frog as it emanates from the very ground beneath your feet? Hither, my darling. Hither. Who knew overweight, underground trolls could have such a beautiful singing voice?

Blind Snake

Image: Jonathan Hakim
Desert Blind Snake (Leptotyphlops humilis cahuilae)

There are two kinds of snake in the world: Blind Snakes and "other".

Lungfish

Image: Joel Abroad

Now, here's a blast from the past!

Coelacanth

It's the world's most famous living fossil! Or is it? A living fossil, I mean. Because the Coalacanth is so ridiculously famous that whatever it is, it's probably the most famous one.

Lamprey

Image: NOAA

Pray, little lamb! Pray for your tiny soul!

Chiton

Image: Nuytsia@Tas

Chitons! They look like... like... nothing else! I'm sure this style was in vogue a few hundred million years ago, but these days they're really going out on a limb. Not that they have a limb.

Ostracod

Image: Daniel Stoupin

Sometimes, don't you just want to wrap yourself up in titanium-reinforced cotton wool and shut the whole wide world out for a little while? Maybe a long while? Let the Ostracod show you how it's done.

Remipede

Image: Simon Richards

Oh no! Don't tell me centipedes have made it into the sea as well?

Paddlefish

Image: Joachim S. Müller via Flickr

All hail the mighty schnoz of the ancients!

Sturgeon

Image: david.torcivia via Flickr

Sturgeon! With a T! Don't mix him up with a surgeon because this guy just isn't cut out for heart surgery; he has no proper backbone, no hands and I swear he needs glasses. Does he remind anyone else of Mole from The Wind in the Willows?

Sponge

Image: California Academy of Sciences

Sponges are some 5 or 10,000 members of the phylum Porifera, meaning "pore bearer". They really are full of holes, which I guess is why they're called Sponges, too. But we'll get to that!

Purple Frog

Image via Wikipedia

There's something utterly wonderful about this frog! Something charming and heart warming. Something that brings a smile to the face.

Crinoid

Image via Wikipedia

Crinoid. Attack of the Crinoids. The Intergalactic Crinoid Empire. It sounds like the baddies in a computer game where you destroy an entire civilization of barbaric, technologically advanced, Earth threatening aliens using nothing but a single, rather small space ship, all to the soundtrack of toe-tapping techno which makes you nod your head but with a down-turned mouth because you're enjoying it in a serious and urban way.

Scorpion

Image via Wikipedia

You have got to love scorpions, at least somehow, somewhere, sort of, in a sense. They look so unique and dignified, such elegance and grace; nothing else looks quite like the scorpion (not quite...). They appear ever prepared for only the most genteel of dances, the most dignified of entertainments. A night at an aristocratic ball with the best of society, perhaps. Or a lavish yet refined feast with only the most sophisticated of company, full of elevated discussion on the most cultivated of matters. Port and cigars at the gentlemen's club? What's that you say? Nocturnal walks in the countryside? That's nice! To poison and butcher wild animals so that you can suck out their insides?

Oh...
That sounds... great.

Silverfish

Image via Wikipedia

It has recently come to my attention that quite a lot of people really hate silverfish. I have to say, I find this somewhat odd and couldn't disagree more. It's not like they bite or carry disease or anything like that, neither do they clamber around on rotting food and faeces before walking all over food we're just about to eat. Not much, anyway. In fact, I have always really liked silverfish. They are nocturnal, so I didn't often see them, but it was always wonderful when I did. I guess familiarity breeds contempt. So does the very act of creeping and crawling at the dead of night.