Science

CurBio: ctenophores fuse together with other individuals of their species when injured

An international team of scientists from Japan, Great Britain, the USA, Germany and other countries has discovered an unusual healing mechanism in ctenophores related to jellyfish (Mnemiopsis leidyi). Having received an injury, such an invertebrate merges with another individual into a single organism. The study was published in the scientific journal Current Biology (CurBio).

Experts made the discovery while observing ctenophores in the laboratory. They noticed an unusually large specimen in the tank, with two tails and two sensory structures instead of just one set.

To confirm their suspicions, the team removed body parts from other individuals and placed them next to each other. In nine out of ten cases, the injured ctenophores fused together, allowing them to survive for at least three weeks.

Further research showed that after one night, the two original individuals smoothly became one with no visible separation between them. When the researchers poked one lobe, the entire fused body responded with a pronounced startle response, suggesting that their nervous systems were also fully integrated.

More detailed observations revealed that the fused ctenophores had spontaneous movements within the first hour. After this, the timing of the contractions on each beat began to become more synchronized. After just two hours, 95% of the muscle contractions of the fused animals were perfectly synchronized.

According to scientists, it is not yet clear how exactly ctenophores acquired such a regeneration mechanism.

 

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