Text/Christine
Giant tube jellyfish found off the west coast of Australia
Photo/Visual China
A team of professional divers recently discovered a creature up to 45 meters long , the tube jellyfish , off the west coast of Australia, which is probably the longest animal ever found in the world. However, it is interesting that because some scientists believe that the tube jellyfish is a social animal composed of many individuals with independent animal life characteristics, some people think that it is only a splicing of countless individuals, and the so-called "45 meters" here cannot be counted as a whole length.
From the appearance, it seems to be "a tube jellyfish"
The discovered creature looks like a long rope floating beneath sea level, taking on a translucent line. The researchers used a laser to determine the size of the outer ring of this "rope" by a remote-controlled aerial vehicle, and then estimated its length according to its diameter.
Marine experts say tube jellyfish are deep-sea carnivores that are related to jellyfish and corals, and their prey objects include tiny crustaceans, fish and even other tube jellyfish.
The living state of tube jellyfish is also similar to that of corals, and the "tube jellyfish" we see is actually composed of many individuals, which are also called "zoospores". All of the zoospores of "One Tube Jellyfish" originate from an initial fertilized egg, and subsequently produce more zoospores through countless clonings. They are also multicellular organisms that can survive independently, but they have obviously chosen to survive in "clumps", thus forming a complex giant organism such as a tube jellyfish.
So we can also say that the tube jellyfish is not a living organism, but a group of social animals in "groups".
Amazing way to survive
The reason why the existence of tube jellyfish makes scientists think about whether the word "individual" should be redefined is because tube jellyfish have a strange way of living, which makes them completely different from the "social life" of organisms such as corals.
Two important differences are that, first, different zoospores of tube jellyfish are endowed with different characteristics; second, each zoospore specifically has only one function, and once they acquire a certain function, they will lose the ability to perform other functions - which may be the characteristic that determines that they have to "cling" to survive.
For example, some zoospores will evolve into a "swimming bell", they are regularly arranged at the top of the tube jellyfish, relying on muscle rhythm contraction to push the tube jellyfish to move, but these zoospores can only perform this single function; the zoospores with predatory function will evolve elongated tentacles, responsible for catching food and feeding it into the tube jellyfish, and handing it over to another type of siphon individual for nutrient intake. The latter two zoospores do not have the ability to swim.
Therefore, after the initial birth of this tube jellyfish, it will gradually and clearly divide into two clone growth areas, one is called the "swim body area", which is mainly responsible for generating the "swimming clock"; the other is called the "lower body area", and the zoospores generated by this part can have more categories of functions, such as predation, reproduction and protection functions.
It calls into question the definition of "individual"
The countless zoonotes that make up tube jellyfish are mainly divided into two categories: one responsible for swimming and the other responsible for predation
(File photo)
We usually think of "biological individuals" as individual organisms that are composed of one cell or a collection of multiple cells that can become independent living individuals. To analyze "individuals" specifically, it may also be necessary to split into environmental individuals, behavioral individuals, and evolutionary individuals. But now, in the tube jellyfish, scientists are beginning to question: Is this not comprehensive enough to define "living individuals"?
Because evolutionarily speaking, all the zoospores of tube jellyfish have the same genes, have the same source of cloning, and live and die almost at the same time. Therefore, the tube jellyfish is indeed the basis of the individual, and each zoospore can also be called a living individual. However, from the perspective of environmental viability and behavioral ability, zoospores with different functions can only survive in the form of a giant individual of tube jellyfish, so they cannot be considered independent individuals, and can only be described as individual units of tube jellyfish.
There should be no standard answer to this question, which confuses biologists. But perhaps it is precisely because of this that we can better appreciate the wonders of life and understand why the world will always make us curious.
The source | Yangcheng Sect
Editor-in-charge | Yi Zhi Na
Chen Qian, | of the reviewer
Intern | Li Shuhui