An international team of scientists from Japan, Great Britain, the United States, Germany and other countries has discovered an unusual healing mechanism in ctenophores related to the jellyfish (Mnemiopsis leidyi). Having received an injury, such an invertebrate merges with another individual into a single organism. The research was published in the scientific journal magazine Current Biology (CurBio).
Experts made the discovery while observing ctenophores in the laboratory. In the tank, they noticed an unusually large specimen with two tails and two sensory structures instead of a single set.
To confirm their suspicions, the team removed body parts from other individuals and placed them side by side. In nine out of ten cases, injured ctenophores clustered together, allowing them to survive for at least three weeks.
Further research showed that after one night, the two original individuals seamlessly merged into a single person, with no visible distinction between them. When the researchers poked one lobe, the entire fused body reacted with a distinct startle response; This suggested that their nervous systems were also fully integrated.
More detailed observations revealed that the fused ctenophores moved spontaneously within the first hour. After that, the timing of the contractions with each stroke began to become more synchronized. After just two hours, 95% of the combined animals’ muscle contractions were perfectly synchronized.
According to scientists, it is not yet clear how exactly ctenophores acquire such a regeneration mechanism.
Previous researchers changed jellyfish to explore the depths of the ocean.
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Source: Gazeta
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