Alien Jellyfish found in Arctic Deep

Continuing my jellyfish obsession...I present to you, Alien Jellyfish! I just saw this on National Geographic. I love NatGeo (how can you not?).

From nationalgeographic.com:

In the black depths of the frigid Arctic Ocean, scientists on a 2005 expedition found a splash of color: The brilliant, blood-red Crossota norvegica jellyfish (second one pictured).

The creature was spotted by a remotely operated vehicle 8,530 feet (2,600 meters) underwater during a two-month National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition to the Canada Basin, the deepest and least explored part of the Arctic waters.

And this is the weird Pacific Barreleye fish, which has a transparent domed head. It was discovered alive in the deep water off California's central coast by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

Click here to watch a video of the fish.

Anatomy of a Jellyfish

I'm find jellyfish curious creatures and have previously written about giant jellyfish taking over the oceans. Today I learnt on wikipedia the jellyfish's mouth and anus are one and the same.

This is because it has a simple digestive cavity which acts as a gullet, stomach and intestine all in one, with one opening for both the mouth and anus.

Jellyfish are fascinating.

"Their bodies have radial symmetry, which means that the body parts extend from a central point like the spokes on a wheel. If you cut a jellyfish in half at any point, you'll always get equal halves."

(From how stuff works).

They are also about 98 percent water which is why when you see a jellyfish washed up on the beach, it will have mostly disappeared, as the water evaporates. Jellyfish do not have a brain, heart or bones.

Giant jellyfish taking over the oceans

Photo credit: Yomiuri Shibun/AFP/Getty Images. See here for a dead big jellyfish, stranded on a beach in Cambodia's Sihanoukville and here for the world's best jellyfish photos.

Giant jellyfish like this one are taking over parts of the world's oceans as overfishing and other human activities open windows of opportunity for them to prosper, say researchers. They say climate change could also cause jellyfish populations to grow. The team believes that for the first time, water conditions could lead to what they call a "jellyfish stable state," in which jellyfish rule the oceans. Jellyfish numbers are increasing in Southeast Asia, the Black Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.

From discovery.com.

Jellyfish are awesome. In this January article by The Telegraph:

Marine biologists say the jellyfish numbers are rocketing because they need not die. Turritopsis Nutricula is technically known as a hydrozoan and is the only known animal that is capable of reverting completely to its younger self. It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. Scientists believe the cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it potentially immortal. While most members of the jellyfish family usually die after propagating, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the unique ability to return to a polyp state. Having stumbled upon the font of eternal youth, this tiny creature which is just 5mm long is the focus of many intricate studies by marine biologists and geneticists to see exactly how it manages to literally reverse its aging process.

And then there is this March report by the Brisbane Times which said:

A ghostly white jellyfish the size of a 10 cent piece could be the secret weapon in the fight against dengue fever, a Tasmanian biologist believes. Launceston-based researcher Dr Lisa Gershwin believes a species of mosquito-munching jellyfish may be the key to keeping numbers down. The freshwater Craspedacusta sowerbyi can live in small bodies of water and have a taste for mosquito larvae.

You may be interested to learn about jellyfish stings in Thailand. As for cures, someone on the travel site travelfish.org says: "Cures for jellyfish stings include vinegar and peeing on the sting (no I'm not kidding!) Vinegar works better though. ;-) Also have seen honey applied and that seemed to work very well too. It's something to do with altering the pH and preventing the nematocysts from releasing the venom. Never wash the stung area with fresh water as it makes the symptoms worse."