Tag Archives: Tentacles

Worms Unite to Create Tentacles and Explore New Areas

Posted on by
Reply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jlpeimmgyw

What should a tiny millimeter worm do when food is scarce? The solution lies in teaming up with countless companions to form tentacle-like structures that can bridge gaps to nearby objects or capture larger prey to aid in their journey.

Researchers examining nematode worms in laboratory settings have long observed their ability to construct “towers,” yet these phenomena lacked thorough exploration, states Serenadine from the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany. Therefore, she and her team aimed to investigate this further.

The research focused on the Caenorhabditis elegans worm species. In their experiments, when food was inadequate, and given a structure to assemble, a significant number of worms tended to create towers. For these studies, they utilized toothbrush bristles as a base.

While worms occasionally formed towers without any physical support, these structures were typically under 5 mm tall and only lasted about a minute. In contrast, when built upon the bristles, the towers reached heights of 11 mm and could endure for up to half a day.

In other nematode species, reports indicate towers can grow as tall as 50 mm. “They can expand significantly,” notes Din.

Although the base of the tower remains steady, the upper portion can extend well beyond the support and exhibit movement similar to tentacles. This allows the towers to reach out to nearby surfaces, forming bridges that enable the worms to traverse much wider gaps than individual organisms could manage.

“Tower” of nematode worms on rotten apples

Perez et al. Current Biology (2025)

The towers are capable of gripping objects that come into contact with them, such as fruit fly legs, effectively hitching a ride for the worms. This allows them to travel further without exerting their own energy.

While it’s known that individual nematodes can latch onto insects for transportation, the idea that an entire tower could do the same was previously unverified. “That’s a feature we expect to observe,” says Ding.

Utilizing a digital microscope, the researchers documented the tower’s formation on a decaying apple in an orchard adjacent to their laboratory.

Worm towers are exclusively formed by a single species, despite the presence of various species around them. They can consist of worms at any stage of their life cycle, even if the team discovers them during the process. Previously, it was believed that only “Dawer” worms, which are in their hard larval stage during stressful conditions, could create these towers.

There are other similarly crude forms of aggregation. For instance, slime molds, which are single-celled organisms like amoebas, can group together to form larger masses that move in search of nourishment.

Topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

408 Tentacles: A Detailed Analysis

Posted on by
Reply

Dr. Clifford attempted to explain the challenges of owning an octopus in his post. He faced high costs, sleep deprivation, and significant water damage to his home, which necessitated extensive renovations. He mentioned, “I didn’t want to form a permanent or romantic attachment to my baby while still caring for it.”

Despite his efforts, he was inundated with requests to adopt the hatching octopuses.

Vincent Nyman, a wildlife trade expert at Oxford Brooks University, who researched the impact of social media on the exotic pet trade, stated, “If you showcase it, people will want it. And if you advise against getting it, it’s like saying ‘Don’t do this,’ right?”

Nevertheless, Dr. Clifford ultimately decided that he could not send the baby octopuses to private homes. Instead, he arranged for them to be placed in a reputable aquarium or university once they were healthy enough. On April 21st, he made an announcement that he had found homes for all the hatching.

The following day, one of the hatching octopuses, Terrance, passed away and was buried in the backyard beside trees whose trunks resembled octopus tentacles.

Now, the priority was to keep the baby octopuses alive until they could be relocated to their new homes. The odds were stacked against them, as only a small percentage typically survives in the wild.

Dr. Clifford shared that approximately 20 hatching octopuses died within the first month alone, due to factors like cannibalism and power outages.

The pressure to ensure the survival of the baby octopuses weighed heavily on Dr. Clifford, especially with a large and invested audience following his journey.

A local reptile expert and breeder who had become a friend to Dr. Clifford stepped in to help care for and house a baby octopus while Dr. Clifford’s home underwent renovations. Despite their collaborative efforts, the hatching octopuses continued to perish.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Meeting the wind-powered sea monster with 30-metre tentacles: Nature’s most bizarre phenomenon

Posted on by
Reply

The Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia physalis) is named after an 18th-century sailing ship due to its resemblance to a ship under full sail.

In the open ocean, they appear as floating pink party balloons with long trailing blue ribbons.

The balloon part is a life buoy filled with carbon monoxide gas, which acts like a sail, rising above the water and catching the wind.

This is how Portuguese man-of-war travel across the ocean, sometimes in groups numbering in the thousands. They rely entirely on wind power and are not active swimmers.

Depending on which way the sail is facing in relation to the wind, it can be right-handed or left-handed.

They share some similarities with jellyfish, such as their appearance up close and the fact that they have a painful sting.

If you come across a deflated pale balloon with a blue string on the beach, be cautious – it’s likely a deceased Portuguese man-of-war, which loses its color when it dies but retains its ability to sting.

The Portuguese man-of-war is a tubular animal related to jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals.

There are about 175 species of cetaceans. Some live on the ocean floor, others swim in the depths, but the Portuguese man-of-war is the only one that floats on the surface.

What sets weevils apart is their unique construction. Unlike other animals that grow larger and develop specialized tissues and organs, tubular algae replicate themselves to create genetically identical zooids that form colonies and tubular bodies.

These zooids come together in specific arrangements to carry out tasks like feeding, digestion, reproduction, and defense.

Portuguese man-of-war play a crucial role in the Pulston ecosystem, which exists at the boundary between sea and air. As they drift, they capture fish and larvae with their tentacles, which can extend up to 30 meters and paralyze prey with venomous spines.

Other creatures that prey on Portuguese man-of-war include the blue dragon sea slug, which eats the tentacles and uses its stingers for defense, and the Blanketed Octopus, which waves its tentacles to find food and deter threats.

If you have any questions, please email the address below. For more information: Facebook Page, Twitter, or Instagram Page (remember to include your name and location).

Ultimate Fun Facts: For more incredible science, visit this page.

Read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

The Rapid Growth of Jellyfish Tentacles: A Few Days’ Transformation

Posted on by
Reply

New research reveals how cladoceran jellyfish can regenerate tentacles in just a few days, highlighting the role of unique stem-like proliferating cells in this rapid regeneration process. This breakthrough provides insight into similar regeneration processes in other species. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Japanese scientists have discovered that the cladoceran jellyfish uses stem-like proliferating cells to regenerate its tentacles, providing new insights into the process of blastogenesis and its evolutionary similarities in other organisms. . seed Like a salamander.

A type of jellyfish about the size of a little fingernail cladonema Amputated tentacles can regrow in a few days, but how do they regrow? Functional tissue regeneration across species such as salamanders and insects repairs damage and grows into missing appendages It relies on its ability to form blastocytes, which are masses of undifferentiated cells. Jellyfish, like other cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones, exhibit high regenerative abilities, but how their vital blastema cells are formed has remained a mystery until now.

Japanese research team reveals that stem-like proliferating cells (actively growing and dividing but not yet differentiated into specific cell types) appear at injury sites and help form blastomas. I made it.

The results of this study were published in the journal Science on December 21st. PLOS Biology.

The jellyfish Cladonema pacificum exhibits branched tentacles that can strongly regenerate after amputation.Credit: Sou Fujita, University of Tokyo

“Importantly, these stem-like proliferating cells in the blastema are different from the resident stem cells localized in the tentacles,” said corresponding author Yuichiro Nakajima, a lecturer at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Repair-specific proliferating cells primarily contribute to the newly formed tentacle epithelium (thin outer layer).”

According to Nakajima, the resident stem cells present in and near the tentacles are responsible for generating all cell lineages during homeostasis and regeneration, and maintain all the cells needed throughout the jellyfish’s life. means to repair. Repair-specific proliferating cells appear only upon injury.

“The combination of resident stem cells and repair-specific proliferating cells enables the rapid regeneration of functional tentacles within a few days,” Professor Nakajima said, adding that jellyfish use their tentacles to hunt and feed. he pointed out.

Resident stem cells (green) and repair-specific proliferating cells (red) contribute to the regeneration of Cladonema tentacles.Credit: Sou Fujita, University of Tokyo

According to lead author Sosuke Fujita, a postdoctoral researcher in the same laboratory as Nakajima at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the discovery will help researchers understand how blastoma formation differs between different animal groups. It shows that you understand.

“In this study, our aim was to use the tentacles of the cnidarian jellyfish to address the mechanisms of blastogenesis. cladonema “As a regeneration model for non-bilateral animals, or animals that do not form bilaterally symmetrically during embryonic development,” Professor Fujita said, explaining that this study could provide insights from an evolutionary perspective.

For example, salamanders are bilaterally symmetrical animals that can regenerate limbs. Their limbs contain stem cells that are restricted to the needs of specific cell types, and this process is thought to function similarly to the repair-specific proliferating cells observed in jellyfish.

“Given that repair-specific proliferating cells are similar to restricted stem cells in the limbs of bilateral salamanders, the formation of blastema by repair-specific proliferating cells has been linked to complex organs and appendages during animal evolution. We can infer that this is a common feature that was acquired independently for organ regeneration,” said Fujita. Said.

After 72 hours of amputation, Cladonema’s regenerating tentacles are fully functional.Credit: Sou Fujita, University of Tokyo

However, the cellular origin of the repair-specific proliferating cells observed in blastema cells remains unclear, and researchers believe that the tools currently available to investigate their origin are too limited. They say they are unable to elucidate or identify other distinct stem-like cells. cell.

“It is essential to introduce genetic tools that allow tracing and intracellular manipulation of specific cell lineages. cladonema‘ said Nakajima. “Ultimately, understanding the mechanisms of blastoma formation in regenerating animals, including jellyfish, may help us identify cellular and molecular components that improve our own regenerative abilities.”

Reference: “Distinct stem-like cell populations promote functional regeneration of Cladonema medusa tentacles” by Sosuke Fujita, Mako Takahashi, Manabu Kumano, Erina Kuranaga, Masayuki Miura, and Yuichiro Nakajima, December 21, 2023. PLOS Biology.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002435

This research was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, and a grant from the National Institute for Basic Biology Joint Research Project.

Source: scitechdaily.com