The Immortal Jellyfish

Ever wanted to become immortal?

Well, turn into a jellyfish today!

Yup, that's right!

One particular type of jellyfish, the Turritopsis dohrnii, can convert back into the polyp stage when threatened or sick, using a process called transdifferentiation. With transdifferentiation, the jellyfish is able to transform cells into different cells—eg. a nerve cell can become a muscle cell, and a nerve cell can become a sperm cell.


Pretty cool right?

 The Turritopsis nutricula, AKA the 'Immortal jellyfish', originates in the Caribbean Sea. However, it can also catch lifts in the holds of cargo ships, transporting its species to many different oceans around   the world.

Because they are so difficult to manage, only one scientist, a Japanese biologist by the name of Shin Kubota, has managed to keep a colony in captivity for a long amount of time. His jellyfish live in petri dishes in Kubota's refrigerator, 3 in each dish. Every day he takes them out of the fridge, changes the dishes' water, and feeds the jellyfish sliced-up brine shrimp eggs. Also, when travelling, he is forced to take the jellyfish dishes with him in a portable cooler! (See here for an article on captive Turritopsis dohrnii.)


Breeding:

 Turritopsis dohrnii polyp

First, the male transfers his sperm to the mouth of the female. After being fertilised, the eggs hatch, releasing small free-swimming larvae that make their way down to the sea floor and transform into colonies of polyps. The polyps then emit tiny medusas, about 1 millimetre in size, which grow into adults as they feed on plankton and other small marine creatures.


Turritopsis application for human beings is the most wonderful dream of mankind. … Once we determine how the jellyfish rejuvenates itself, we should achieve very great things. My opinion is that we will evolve and become immortal ourselves.
        — Shin Kubota

Spectacled Flying Foxes

The Spectacled Flying Fox
Pteropus conspicillatus

To drink, these flying foxes skim over pools of water, but due to this they are sometimes snapped up by hungry crocodiles. 

Looks:

The spectacled flying fox is a large nocturnal bat, all black with golden fur around its eyes and a fluffy chestnut-coloured chest. It has great eyesight and no need for echolocation, as with all fruit bats.

Habitat:

These bats choose to make their homes mostly in australian rainforests, setting up camp in trees and other thick vegetation.

Feeding:

Spectacled flying foxes feed on fruit, seeds, pollen and nectar.

Breeding:

The mating season occurs between March and May. Babies bats are born to the females in October and early December—usually females give birth to one pup every year.

The spectacled flying fox’s predators include owls such as the rufus owl, and the paralysis tick, which may be picked up from the ground when the bat flies low.

Bronze Stink Bug

Source
Adult Bronze Stink Bug

Bronze Stink bug nymph

Recently we looked out at our mandarin tree and saw that it was covered in little red-orange bugs! I was 'commissioned' by my mother to investigate further, and discovered that these bugs were, in fact, Bronze Orange Bugs, AKA Bronze Stink Bugs. I also found out that these bugs can badly damage citrus trees, so we are currently searching for a humane method of removing them. :)


Looks/Description:

Bronze stink bugs go through several colourful phases before they reach the adult appearance: large, a deep bronze in colour, with a dark triangular plate on their backs.

(See Breeding for more information) When approached they will spray out a strong-smelling liquid to deter predators, for example the Pristhesancus plagipennis, or the Australian Common Assassin bug.

 

Newborn Bronze Stink bug

     Feeding:

   These critters suck the sap of citrus trees for nourishment. Often, many bugs of different age stages can be found on the same tree. The leaves of the victim tree become brown and wilted after they have been infested.

    Breeding:

   After the two stink bugs have mated the female lays a   clutch of translucent greenish eggs on a leaf or twig. After about two weeks the eggs hatch, which may take approximately 3-4 days. After they have hatched, the newborns climb onto their mother’s back and are carried around by their loving parent;another species of stinkbug has been known to stand over her clutch and protect them with her body.

When they are young the bugs are pale, striking green, but as they grow older they get darker, turn orange, then finally transform into the dark brown-bronze for which they are known.

Habitat:

Citrus trees. They are known to be very slow-moving, and often stay in the same spot for days on end.

Common Octopus

Octopus vulgaris

Did you know that octopi have three hearts?

Looks

Octopi (AKA Octopuses or Octopodes) are sea-creatures that can come in many different sizes and colours. They have many ways to defend themselves from predators including the ability to squirt black ink, and doing so, swim away unnoticed. They are best known for their eight long, slimy tentacles, which are covered in tiny suckers that help the octopus to cling to rocks. These are also used to catch food (see Feeding). They can also change into a wide range of colours, and one species, the Mimic Octopus, can change its shape and colour to look like a different animal!

See a video here!

Feeding

Octopi use their tentacles to catch food such as crabs, scallops, snails, fish, turtles, crustaceans, and even other octopi. Then, using their strong beak, they kill and paralyse their prey so they can suck out its flesh. (Gross!)

Breeding

The male uses a special arm to transfer sperm inside the female. Sadly, only a few months after this procedure, the male octopus dies. About 7 months after the female has been fertilized, she produces approximately 200,000 eggs. The eggs, encased in little capsules, are attatched to a rock and guarded sleeplessly (and eat-lessly!) by the female for about 50 days. Indeed, after the babies have hatched, most octopus mothers die from exhaustion and lack of food. The hatched babies are defenseless and constantly hunted by predators, and in the end only about 1% of the clutch survive!

Habitat

Octopi make their homes in dark cracks and crevices on the ocean floor. They like warm, shallow water.

Also…Read about the strange protection strategies of the veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) here! 

Octopi can regenerate a lost tentacle!

Mollusks: How Shells Are Made

A conch shell

How Seashells are Made

Have you ever wondered how seashells are created? Those beautiful, perfectly formed little things on the beach? How they seem to just be put on the earth to glitter and shine in the sunlight for you? Well, read on to find out.

Credit

It seems impossible that the shells strewn on the beach ever were part of a living creature. But it’s true. The shell is formed by the mollusk itself. By excreting calcium and protein from its mantle, it forms a hard case around itself which it uses for protection. As the shells get larger so as to accommodate the growing mollusk, three different layers are created: an outer layer of protein, a middle layer of calcium, and finally the inner, pearly coat of nacre (Also known as ‘Mother-of-pearl”).

The shell gets bigger as the mollusk adds the protein-calcium mix at the edges, or margins. With some shells, whorls and chambers form. If you cut those empty shells in half, you’d see big spaces in between the spirals (whorls). Those are called “chambers.” However, other shells don't have any whorls or chambers, such as an oyster's. Instead, these particular mollusks grow a flat, shiny shell, with hinges on one end that hold it shut.

  Below: A beautiful spiral shell.

Credit

But there’s another big question. We know how shells are made now—but how do they get their colours? The seashells on the beach aren’t all just plain grey or white. They gleam with all the colours of the rainbow, right? The whorls, the chambers, the protein-mix…that’s all alright, but just how do they get so beautiful?

Shells gain their prettiness from the world around them. If a mollusk was living on orange coral, then the shell would turn that shade of orange. If it was living on sand, it would be some sort of yellowish colour. That’s quite handy for a mollusk who doesn’t want to be noticed by any predators.

What predators, you ask?

Well, quite a few animals are interested in the soft animal inside the shell. Shell-borers, for one, drill through the hard outer layer to get to the poor mollusk encased in it. Starfish also prey on these creatures. By wrapping their arms around the shell, they break it open and feed on the animal. Otters dive down, swim back up with the mollusk in their paws, and then break it open using their belly as a table. Also, oysters, clams and mussels are commonly farmed for pearls, the process of which sadly involves the killing of many mollusks.

Now, for the breeding process. When just hatched, most aquatic mollusks are just little free-swimming larvae called trochophore. 

These tiny critters are very basic. Spherical or pear-shaped, they use rings of minuscule hairs called cilia to swim, and have a few simple functions. They have both female and male genes, (which means they can mate with any other mollusk) and once the pair have done just that, the eggs are fertilized, and the process repeats again.

Credit 

< Left: a trochophore. You can see the cilia (tiny hairs) in a ring around it.

So, if you’re picking up shells on a beach…spare a thought or two for the little critters who once lived inside them!

Flatfish

Flatfish: Pleuronectiformes

Looks

Flatfish are round, sandy-coloured fish with both eyes on one side of the head. Babies are born with an eye on either side of their head. The second eye migrates to the other side while the fish is still developing—that way they can get a good view of the water above without one side of the face being mushed into the sand. Some flatfish have both eyes on the right side, some on the left. On the side with the eye, most species have darker skin, and on the eyeless side, their skin is pale. They use camouflage to escape from enemies: and indeed, it seems to work very well!  They blend in with the sandy bottom of the sea or rock pools. (See Habitat)

Feeding

Flatfish eat mostly crustaceans, polychaetes, small fish, and fish spawn. 

Habitat

Most flatfish live in seawater. It is not decided officially whether they can live in fresh water, though there have been sightings all over the place of flatfish in freshwater pools.

Breeding

Female flatfishes lay eggs, sometimes more than a million, that she releases into the water for the male to fertilize. The eggs hatch after a few days into long, spiny plankton-like larvae, with eyes on both sides of the head. As they develop the eye moves across the head to the other side (see Looks) and their body grows rounder. The larvae have spines to protect them in the early stages, and a gas-filled swim bladder to help them stay stabilized in the water, both of which they lose as they grow into adults. They sink to the bottom and lie with the eyeless side on the sand.

When just hatched, the larvae are less than 1.3 centimeters (that’s ¹/₂ inch) long!

See here for information on a swim bladder:

Link to Wikipedia

Lifespan

Varies according to species.

Dover Sole: 58 years male, 53 years female

Starry flounder: 24 years

English Sole: 22 years

Sand Sole: 10 years

Arabian Camels

Link

There are two types of camel, the dromedary (Arabian camel, such as the one in this post, with one hump) and the Bactrian (with two humps).

Interesting Facts:

Camels are able to go for many, many days with little — or no —food or water. They can even go thirsty for weeks!

Did you know camels, using their fat-storing humps, can travel up to 100 desert miles (that’s 161 kilometers) without water?

Camels can drink up to 135 litres of water in one sitting! (fourteen minutes)

Looks

Camels are large mammals with long, curving necks and long legs. Their most distinguishing feature is the lump on their backs, called a ‘hump,’ which is not used for storing water (as many people falsely believe) but instead, fat. Many people traveling through the desert choose camels for their preferred transport, because their long eyelashes, sealable nostrils and ability to store water for a long time in their three stomachs make them the perfect sand vehicle. Camels use their wide-spread, flat-toed feet to balance on top of the sand, and their thick coats protect them from driving sand.

Feeding

Camels’ parted lips make it easy to munch the small desert plants and cacti that make up their diets.  However, if they get hungry enough, they will eat many surprising things, such as leather, fish, bones, and even their owner’s tent!

Also, the lining of their mouth is so tough and thick that thorns cannot hurt them if they gobble up a thorny twig. 

Camels don’t sweat often, either, and the water that saves can be conserved for a long, long time. Their urine is as thick as syrup, too, because all the fluid in camel’s bodies are being used for its survival. All in all, camels are the ultimate desert contraption.

History

These camels have been used for transport for about 3,500 years. They can bear large loads on their back, for up to 25 miles (or 40 kilometers) a day! People’s wealth is sometimes judged on how many camels they own.

In the present day, most camels are domestic animals, trained for carrying loads across the desert, but there are still feral camels wandering the dunes in America, Queensland, and other places in Australia today.

Habitat

Arabian camels have been brought to Australia, but they are usually found in southwestern Asia and northern Africa.

Breeding

Female camels’ gestation period is about nine to eleven months, and usually have one baby (called a calf) at a time. A year after their birth, the baby camels are weaned.

Baird's Tapirs

Tapirus bairdii

Fossil remains show that today’s tapirs are very similar to the prehistoric versions that lived in the forests more than 25 million years ago!

Looks

Tapirs, closely related to rhinos, look like pigs, with a small tail, large head and a strong, sturdy body. They can weigh up to 250 kg. (That’s as heavy as four human adults!)

When the Baird's tapir is attacked by its species’ main rival, the jaguar, it does the heroic thing—biting and kicking, then dashing off fast into the undergrowth.

The Baird’s tapir has a short bristly mane down its neck, and lives from Mexico down to northern South America. Like hippos, it enjoys swimming, and usually sticks close to the water.

Habitat

Tapirs make their homes mostly in woods and forests, traveling through the thick undergrowth using the well-trampled and worn paths which have been used by many tapirs to move through the forest. They are mainly nocturnal, but can be found out in the forest at all times.

These tapirs are solitary animals—however, they can be found in feeding groups with other tapirs. Mother and young often stay together as well.

Breeding

The incubation, or gestation, period is up to 390-400 days. The young are patterned with white stripes and spots to blend in with the shade of the forest. Once born, they are weaned after one year.

Feeding

Baird’s tapirs’ diets consist of leaves and berries, which they snatch from trees and bushes with their long elephant-like nose. They are herbivores.

They are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the endangered chart, and are in danger of becoming extinct. This is mostly due to human hunting and habitat loss.

Three-spined Stickleback

Link

Looks

Sticklebacks are small fish only a few inches long, with spiky fins running down their back. Interestingly, Sticklebacks have no scales. Some species, however, have armour plates to protect them. Three-spined Stickleback females are light blue-green with a pale pinkish underbelly, and the males of this species are the same, but with a silver belly instead of pink.

Habitat

These little fish live mostly in the ocean. Some also make their homes in freshwater lakes. Long ago, after the ice age, glaciers and ice melted, allowing the Sticklebacks to make homes in the freshwater lakes and streams. In there, the predators were faster but not as strong, so the freshwater Sticklebacks evolved to suit their new territory’s needs. The freshwater species have no spines or armour plating, and are faster and more agile than their cousins in the sea.

The ocean Sticklebacks live only in the Northern Hemisphere, prefering coastal, slow-flowing water with marshes and bays.

Feeding

Sticklebacks’ diets consist of small crustaceans and the lavae of fish.

Breeding

(Three-spined Stickleback—other species have a similar way of breeding)

First, the male fish creates a bird-like nest out of vegetation. Then he attracts a female and invites her inside. The female Stickleback will lay a clutch of about 100-150 eggs. Afterwards, the male guards the nest, driving away other males and protecting the eggs until they hatch.

Lifespan

(Three-spined)

These small fish live for about 3 years.