Wednesday, Dec. 07, 2011
Harry Potter and the Blast-Ended Skrewt
No sign of hippogriffs or screaming Mandrake plants yet, but Potter fans take heart: the Blast-Ended Skrewt, a shell-less lobster with no visible head but a very bad temper may exist after all. First sighted in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the skrewt turns out to have some Muggle-world friends, in the form of three new species of shell-less lobsters that were one more great find by the Philippine expedition. Unlike the Hogwarts skrewts, those from the Philippines are very timid — spending most of their time squeezed into rock crevices. That makes sense; when you've got the lobster family name but no armor to back it up, it's best to keep a low profile.