Thread 5015464

Comb Jellies are some of the most fascinating and beautiful creatures in the ocean

They are named after the rows of cilia, often referred to as combs, which propel themselves through the water

The Ctenophora phylum consists of a wide variety of species with many different hunting techniques.
The Pacific sea gooseberry uses two long tentacles lined with adhesive cells called colloblasts which capture prey. It floats through the ocean waiting for plankton and other small creatures to become ensared before reeling them into it's mouth

Other comb jellies actively hunt their prey like the Abyssal comb jelly. They are able to open their mouth wide to devour prey whole. One of their main sources of food is other comb jellies. It is thought that their red coloring helps to camouflage themselves in the deep when they eat bioluminescent prey so that the light doesn't leak out, attracting other predators.

Similar to jellyfish, they do not have a brain, but instead have a nerve net which allows them to respond to stimuli in their environment.

Comb Jellies are thought to be hundreds of millions of years old, but because of their soft bodies, there are very few fossils to study. Fossil impressions that have been found show rows of cilia similar to modern species. The fossils also show internal organ-like structures which are not present in any modern species suggesting that their ancient form may have been substantially different.

>>5015480
I wish there was a larger or more dangerous comb jelly, jellyfish have some unique and freaky family members but I feel like the comb jelly family is just small and very similar, with the blood belly one being the most unique.

I don't get how these are anything different than a normal jellyfish. What sets them apart exactly?

>>5015497
The main differences between Jellyfish and Comb Jellies is how they move and how they catch prey.
Comb Jellies use rows of cilia that run the length of their body like tiny oars to move through the water. Jellyfish, on the other hand, expand and contract their singular bell to push water behind them.
Comb jellies use adhesive colloblast cells (which are unique to ctenophores), to trap their prey. Jellyfish use stinging cells called cnidocytes to stun or kill their prey before eating it.

>>5015488
>I feel like the comb jelly family is just small and very similar
I have to disagree with this. While the number of comb jelly species is much smaller than that of jellyfish, there are many unique and freaky creatures that don't just resemble the standard shape.
For example, the Venus Girdle can grow to more than a meter long and looks nothing like the blood belly.

>>5015488
Also, comb jellies are difficult to study because many of them live in deep water and are very fragile. The comb jellies that live in deep water have specializations in the membranes of their cells called plasmalogen lipids. These allow the cells to remain flexible even under extreme pressures. When these species are brought into shallower water their cell membranes tear apart because there is nothing holding them together.
There are new species of comb jellies being discovered as more of the deep ocean is explored. This species, Duobrachium sparksae, was just discovered in 2015.

Some species of Comb Jelly have evolved to live on the ocean floor instead of floating freely in the water.
Benthic Ctenophores lack the combs of cilia that would allow them to swim. Instead, they anchor themselves to the ground and stretch out their tentacles to catch food that passes by.
This Harp Comb Jelly can be seen reeling in it's catch to feed.

>>5015812
This genus exhibits a wide variety of colors

Another bottom dwelling ctenophore is the creeping comb jelly.
They attach themselves to starfish.

>>5015827
I didn’t even know these existed. It’s like a flatworm

>>5015912
They do look very similar to flatworms and it can be difficult to identify them if they do not have their dual tentacles extended.
On this species it is more obvious because of the lobes where the tentacles are stored.

This is the Spotted Comb Jelly.
The 4 waving arms that you see are called auricles. They are also lined with cilia and help to direct food into the animals mouth.

>>5016560
Some footage of one swimming. It truly looks like some sort of alien spaceship.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute has some really incredible footage of various comb jelly species. They also have some on display at the aquarium.

>>5015464 (OP)
Aside from hatchet fish these were my favorite underwater creatures growing up. Couldn’t stop drawing them

This species has a striking orange color.
You can see one of it's coiled tentacles which doesn't appear to have the small hairs branching off it like the other species in this thread. It was photographed north of Alaska and can grow to be football sized.

This is what happens to your coom after it goes down the drain

>>5015733
Sucks how it got sucked into a motor or something and get ripped apart

comb jellies make me imagine the sort of "low power running noises" of starships.
gentle engine hum, beeps of unattended consoles, etc.
this sorta stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnU2qn6-hz4

>>5015814
>>5015812
I wonder if the mysterious "Y-Animal" fossils were comb jellies like this?

>>5015464 (OP)
Bump

>>5015464 (OP)
Bump

Does anybody here want to weigh in on the theory that comb jellies differentiated from other animals before sponges?
I think it would be neat, but nature doesn't really care about that.

>>5015754
>>5015778
There has to be at least one weird creature that used that as a fleshlight

>>5015464 (OP)
Post more comb jelly species

>>5015464 (OP)
Have you seen these at MBA's Into the Deep exhibit?

>>5027986
This is the Winged Pocket Comb Jelly which is native to Australia. It is a member of the Beroidae family, so it lacks tentacles and actively hunts down its prey. Similar to the abyssal comb jelly posted earlier. It is unique because it has two large, backwards facing lobes.
>>5028846
Unfortunately, I have not gotten the chance to visit yet. I've read all of the articles and seen all the videos that the aquarium posts.
My friend recently moved to San Francisco, so whenever I plan a trip to go see him I will stop in Monterey.

>>5019394
The videos are even cooler than the pics

>>5026814
Some branches of the tree of life are heavily pruned. Like the Ginkgo's, for one.

>>5029821
>Some G. biloba trees have survived extreme events like the Hiroshima atomic bomb and others showcasing extreme longevity; G. biloba specimens have been measured in excess of 1,600 years, and the largest living trees are estimated to exceed 3,500 years.[8][9][10] Today it is widely planted in cities worldwide for its pollution tolerance and ornamental value.

>>5015754
>>5015755
>>5015778
Lol

>>5015464 (OP)
Anyone have the Ernst Haeckel drawings of these things?

>The Benthic comb jelly was discovered off the coast of Japan at the Ryukyu Trench. It was observed by the remotely operated underwater vehicle Kaikō on a dive into the Ryukyu Trench in April 2002, but the video and images of this unique bottom dwelling ctenophore remained "undiscovered" until several years later.
>The specimens were not brought to the surface and in any event, appear fragile and might not withstand the changes of pressure involved.
>Found at a depth of 7,217 metres (23,700 ft), it is the deepest dwelling ctenophore discovered
What the hell is this thing's problem?

>>5033184
Nice

>Sponges and Comb jellies are the oldest living dynasties while cool animals like trilobites and lobopodians are extinct
it isn't fair.

>>5034644
The grass is greener on the other side.

>>5036082
>>5036863
What are these ones called?

>>5015464 (OP)
Any pics of Ganesha?

>>5037264
The pink one is the Abyssal comb jelly (Beroe abyssicola)
https://www.mbari.org/animal/abyssal-comb-jelly/

>>5015480
Sounds like many humans

>>5015464 (OP)
Tunicates are cooler

>>5015470
>>5015514
These remind me of siphonophores

>>5015464 (OP)
Bump for cool fish pictures

These are all very cool. Does someone have any recommendations on books about ctenophores?

>>5042970
Is it the red thing?

>>5044326
Yes, it is a benthic comb jelly attached to some coral.
You can see one of its tentacles being extended.

>>5044776
Gamer fish

>>5044776
Fucking zoomers need rainbow lighting even on their jellyfish.

>>5023243
Okay but why it looks so smug about it?

>>5044790
>>5044776
based

How the fuck did these things evolve?

>>5047050
You mean how did they devolve!

An extinct class of Cambrian Ctenophores called scleroctenophora were hyper-advanced.
They were so hard that they didn't sag outisde of the water.
They had a hard internal "skeleton" composed of sclerotized tissue of unknown composition.
They had sharp spines.
They had many more comb rows for extra speed. From 16 to 80 instead of the modern 8.
Even their nervous systems seemed to have been far more advanced than that of modern Ctenophores.
Over time Ctenophores lost all these advanced features until they reached their modern forms.
Nobody knows why.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4646772/#R16

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221009111

>>5047084
The species that originally contracted with the planetary engineering company in charge of earth defaulted, so animals modeled after their genetic framework were removed from the dominant evolutionary path

This has happened multiple times. Paying to recreate your species on an alien world is insanely expensive. The average engineered planet has 3 lineages removed from the dominant path due to non-payment until it produces a civilization that under galactic law can not have its path cut by an intelligent force unless it poses an outsized threat to the galactic community (this is typically remedied with an asteroid throw), or voluntarily self-terminates.

>>5047417
Advanced alien ctenophores attempted to seed life in their likeness on Earth in the Cambrian?
Nice Science Fiction premise.
Why invent aliens when they already exist in the ocean haha.

>>5047084
>Nobody knows why
Wouldn't it be because eveything else surpassed by absurd order of magnitude, so it was in their best interest to be as simple as possible to survive?

>>5047084
They reached the ultimate form of plastic bag

>>5047504
Shhhh, our jellyfish overlords won't like hearing that.

>>5047084
That doesn't sound hyper-advanced.

>>5047563
FOR A JELLYFISH IT DOES ASSHOLE!

>>5047486
Yeah, exactly. Simplify to achieve maximum reproduction rate like a bacteria.

>>5047576
Bacteria will outlast us