A sea creature can share its nervous and digestive systems with another individual. Biologists describe the discovery as "astonishing" - they have never seen anything like it before.
Imagine a creature that can merge with another and share its brain and stomach.
It sounds incredible, but for comb jellies (Ctenophora), it's a reality.
Researchers have discovered that these transparent marine animals, possibly some of the Earth's earliest organisms, can fuse their bodies and function as a single organism. This ability has never been observed before in the animal kingdom. The discovery is detailed in a study conducted by biologists from the Marine Biological Laboratory.
Conjoined Twins for Up to Three Weeks
The researchers stumbled upon the phenomenon after encountering an unusually large comb jelly. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was actually two jellyfish that had fused into one. This led the researchers to investigate how the fusion occurred. To test if the fusion could be repeated, they placed two comb jellies side by side. When they prodded one of the jellies, both bodies reacted by merging together. This happened in nine out of ten trials, and in some cases, the two individuals remained fused for up to three weeks.
For example, the researchers observed shared muscle contractions and similar nervous system activity. In other words, the animals' nervous systems fused together. "Our results suggest that comb jellies lack the ability to distinguish between themselves and others. Additionally, they show that two individuals can rapidly merge their nervous systems," said lead author and biologist Kei Jokura, now affiliated with the National Institutes of Natural Sciences in Japan, in a press release. Furthermore, the two jellyfish shared food, even though only one was fed. This indicates that their digestive systems were also interconnected.
A Unique Ability
The ability to share internal bodily systems with a member of the same species has never been observed in any other animal. According to the researchers behind the study, this fusion could be an evolutionary advantage, allowing the animals to heal more quickly than through normal regeneration.