It shows that living things have more than one trick up their sleeve when it comes to survival… Researchers have just discovered that ctenaria, marine organisms often confused with jellyfish, can heal when injured. Have the ability to merge with each other!
It is possible to observe these strange creatures in all the seas and oceans of the world. But be careful, their shape and gelatinous texture don’t confuse them with jellyfish. These are actually ctenaries, planktonic organisms that are distinguished by the way they move in water. The eyelidsThe eyelids A type of comb making engine. depends on the lightthe lightit can also appear iridescent. Often appearing pocket- or pear-shaped, they do not sting unlike jellyfish, even though some species may have long tentacles.
Fascinating creatures, whose researchers have uncovered a secret just by chance. When they are injured, they actually have the ability to regenerate… together with another individual! If the living world has been able to deploy multiple survival strategies over time, it is still unique in the animal world.
A completely original survival strategy
While studying these delicate organisms, a team of researchers had the opportunity to observe this phenomenon in the laboratory for the first time. By making routine observations on a sample of Mnemiopsis leidyiThey realized that one person was missing. However, it is unlikely that he escaped from his aquarium. Distraught, the researchers closely examined the tenarians still present… only to realize that one of them was unusually large. A thorough analysis of the specimen revealed that it was in fact two individuals that had interbred.
Later tests showed that this phenomenon occurred almost systematically when two “injured” individuals were brought together. The researchers were able to observe the subsequent process FusionFusionwhich turns out to be very fast. In just 24 hours, the new individual is fully formed. The study was published in the journal Current biology Also shows the quality of fusion of the organs but also the nervous system.
However, even if they havethe windthe wind To behave as a single organism, the results show that the fused ctenarian is not actually a single organism. It actually presents the specific DNA signatures of the two original individuals.
Organisms with amazing abilities
Despite the ease with which this was achieved in the laboratory, it is likely that this phenomenon occurs very rarely in nature due to the closeness required of the two individuals. Although numerous in the oceans, the density of cetenarians remains low. Which probably explains why fusion between two individuals has not been observed in the natural environment until now.
This ability is added to others already recorded in these marine species, which is certainly very surprising. A recent study showed that adult catenarians have the ability to “retreat”, thereby reverting to the larval stage, when environmental conditions are disturbed. The process of regeneration has already been observed in other species, most notably in jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii And I TapewormTapeworm Of chienchien (Echinococcus granulosus)).
But for now, ctenarians are the only known organisms capable of fusion. The researchers now want to study other species to see if this ability is shared across the group.