why-animals-do-the-thing:

cool-critters:

Mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus)

The mandarinfish is a small, brightly colored member of the dragonet family, which is popular in the saltwater aquarium trade. The mandarinfish is native to the Pacific, ranging approximately from the Ryukyu Islands south to Australia. To date, S. splendidus is one of only two vertebrate species known to have blue colouring because of cellular pigment. Mandarinfish are reef dwellers, preferring sheltered lagoons and inshore reefs. While they are slow-moving and fairly common within their range,
they are not easily seen due to their bottom-feeding habit and their
small size (reaching only about 6 cm). They feed primarily on small crustaceans and other invertebrates.

photo credits: meerwasser-lexikon, Luc Viatour, wiki

This is the other species of vertebrate with blue cellular pigment, the Picturesque Dragonet! (They’re very closely related to Mandarinfish). If you want to know more about why any animal not one of these fish only appears to be blue, here’s a great article! 

amuseoffyre:

madenthusiasms:

unreconstructedfangirl:

doctornerdington:

medinaquirin:

priceofliberty:

anarkisses:

frosty-the-snowden:

tilthat:

TIL the Ottoman Sultan wrote to a group of Ukrainian cossacks in 1676 and demanded their submission. They responded, “we have no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, fuck thy mother.”

via reddit.com

The full response is even better

“Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan!

O sultan, Turkish devil and damned devil’s kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are thou, that canst not slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil shits, and your army eats. Thou shalt not, thou son of a whore, make subjects of Christian sons; we have no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, fuck thy mother.

Thou Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-fucker of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, pig of Armenia, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our dick. Pig’s snout, mare’s arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw thine own mother!

So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won’t even be herding pigs for the Christians. Now we’ll conclude, for we don’t know the date and don’t own a calendar; the moon’s in the sky, the year with the Lord, the day’s the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our arse!

– Koshovyi otaman Ivan Sirko, with the whole Zaporozhian Host.”

Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire

In case anyone needed a dramatic reading of the above historical letter.

I’m dying! 

Oh my god.

I’m now dying to know what happened next.

The accent makes it. I am *crying* with laughter here