Scientists accidentally find deep-sea 'jelly' creatures merged into 'single entity' after injury, revealing bizarre new behavior
Researchers discovered that some comb jellies can fuse their bodies together when injured. The unique adaptation, which involves merging their nervous systems and stomachs, has never been seen in any other species.
Bizarre deep-sea creatures known as comb jellies can fuse together when they are injured, creating a single massive individual with permanently combined nervous systems and stomachs, a new study reveals. This unusual adaptation has never been seen before in any other species, researchers say.
"I was very excited [when I found them]," study lead author Kei Jokura, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Exeter in the U.K. and Japan's National Institutes of Natural Sciences in Okazaki, told Live Science in an email. "I immediately took the fused comb jellies from the room where I was keeping them and showed them to the other lab members."
Comb jellies, also known as ctenophores, are a group of more than 100 species of gelatinous, blob-like creatures with small, comb-like tentacles. These alien-looking animals, which appear similar to jellyfish, create luminous displays in the deep sea by lighting up specialized cells throughout their translucent bodies. They are often considered some of the most bizarre creatures in the deep sea and are believed to be one of humanity's most ancient ancestors.
