The above photo is of Apolemia lanosa a type of siphonophore belonging to phylum Cnidaria that also includes corals and jellies.  It’s basically the ocean’s way of celebrating Christmas all year long.  Like many other Cnidarians, siphonophores bud new individuals—exact clones themselves.  In a manner similar to Christmas elves although this is not proven by science. In the case of some Cnidarians, the clones never leave home so family never has to travel for the holidays.  In some Cnidarians, clones in the colony will specialize but among siphonophores the specialization is unrivaled. Clones will specialize for feeding, defense, locomotion or reproduction. The feeding clones catch food by tentacles equipped with cells that shoot out poisonous harpoons stinging and stunning their prey.  In the most popular of all siphonophores, the Portuguese man o’ war, with a large gas filled buoyant bladder adapted for catching the wind and sailing.  Interestingly, all the clones are attached via a single digestive and circulatory system.  Research is still needed on which clones are adapted for drinking eggnog, singing carols, and wrapping gifts.

Apolemia belongs to a special set physonect siphonophores. Recently Dr. Stefan Siebert at Brown University with Phil Pugh (NOC), Steven Haddock (MBARI), and Casey Dunn (Brown University) described two new species in the family Apolemiidae, for which only three species had been described previously.  The species of Apolemiidae may be record holders for the longest animals on earth.

Fragments of specimens of this family with a length of over 30 meters have been reported from the French Mediterranean coast in the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer.

In most physonect siphonophores clones are arranged along a central stem, it itself the founding clone developed from a single egg.  At the front end, is a group of clones that are propulsion clones. Basically, Santa’s reindeer if Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen were all budded from and identical to Santa.  In the larger and remaining region of a physonect siphonophore, one can find the clones for engaging in the spirit of Christmas, eating and…  New clones are formed in special growth regions of the siphonophore.  As new clones are formed the old clones get pushed down the line. But Apolemia species are special.  In addition to other clones Apolemia can also add new feeding clones along the entire length of the stem.

This fact might be the reason why members of this particular family of siphonophores can grow to such tremendous length.

Research by Siebert in collaboration with others uses these as the perfect organism to understand how an organism develops (check out some of their work which features DSN’s Rebecca Helm). Basically Apolemia is the biological Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

From a developmental point of view siphonophores are a very interesting and promising system since collection of a single colony gives the researcher access to complete developmental series of particular bodies – from the youngest bud to a mature body in older parts of the colony. Our work aims at increasing our understanding on how these different bodies can evolve using the same genome.

Siebert’s work looks for when genes turn on and off to trigger the growth and specialization of all the clones.  But the road is not easy going

 The interesting questions to be answered are, how to we get from one body type to another? How are genes sets differentially utilized to make body A or body type B and what has happened on the molecular level when evolutionary novelties, i.e. a new body type, can be observed in a particular [group] of siphonophores.

 A special thanks to Stefan Siebert who provided the quotes and a lesson on siphonorphore biology to me.

The post The Ocean’s Gelantinous Christmas Tinsel first appeared on Deep Sea News.

from The Absolute Worst Case Scenario Handbook: Holiday Shopping Edition” by Susanna Wolff and Alex Watt at CollegeHumor Article.

The post How to Deal With a Parken Lot Full of Bell-Ringing Kraken first appeared on Deep Sea News.

There isn’t a Santa Claus fish that I could find, but there is Raia Santa, Atlantoraja cyclophora

If there were a Santa fish I’m pretty sure that his sleigh would be pulled by Reindeer Wrasse, Novaculichthys taeniourus:

Santa has elves of course.  The Elf, as it’s called in South Africa, is familiar to Americans as bluefish and Australians as tailor, Pomatomus saltatrix:

There’s another Elf, which is a type of German herring, Alosa agone:

Christmas dinner could definitely be Turkey fish, Dendorchirus zebra:

And we could all decorate the Treefish, Sebastes serriceps:

While we enjoy the Snowflake moray, Echidna nebulosa:

Thats the great thing about a class of 28,000 species, there’s one for every occasion!  Merry Christmas folks, Happy Hanukkah, or if you’re an atheist like me, happy “just spending quality time with your family” Cheers!

The post TGIF – A cavalcade of Christmas critters first appeared on Deep Sea News.

From Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute…In the ocean, there are places where it looks like it is snowing. These magical places are near undersea volcanic activity. The snow particles are clumps of bacteria that use chemicals to make food. Chemicals they use include hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic to virtually all other life. Most other ecosystems on earth depend on organisms that require sunlight to create food. Vents release hot water, minerals, and chemicals from beneath hardened lava. The fluid is almost 30 degrees F warmer than the surrounding water. The bacteria live beneath the seafloor and are also released from the vent. These tiny one-celled microbes provide food for many animals. A thick mat of white bacteria builds up; little worms and crustaceans feed on it. Nearby, “black smoker” vents may form when vents spew minerals in water up to 750 degrees F. In time, an amazingly robust community with thousands of animals flourishes here. This video was recorded 480 km (300 miles) west of the Oregon coast at 1,516 m (4,974 ft) depth with remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts.

The post TGIF: Marine Snow first appeared on Deep Sea News.

Nice little holiday message from the Vancouver Aquarium. I personally would have laid Christmas In Hollis over it.  So…

The post Happy Holidays from the Vancouver Aquarium first appeared on Deep Sea News.

To these lists, I will add the Twelve Days of Snails.  Consider it a list of the top 12 reasons why snails are bad ass.  This post is dedicated to my current student who is convinced turtles are cooler than snails.  Hope he has position next semester…just kidding.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my beautiful wife gave to me…

12 Bone snails snacking

11 Larvae lounging

10 Sequential lovers lovin’

9 Parasites piercing

8 Shells spiraling

7 Ladies laying

6 Radulas rasping

5 Iron-Clad Samurai Snails

4 Head penises

3 Hairy shells

2 Endosymbiotic bacteria

And a gastropod in a lit shell

The post The Twelve Days of Snails first appeared on Deep Sea News.

It would be nice to tell a Christmas story here at Deep Sea News. Its a challenge if nothing else. I actually had one all dreamed up, with a submarine rising from the depths with a deep coral tree in its arms, accompanied to the surface by whales and dolphins. Then my wife picked up Harpers Magazine (January 2007) with a cover story called “Moby Duck” wherein the author spins a tale of 10,000 rubber duckies spilled overboard en route from China to Tacoma.

This might be the Christmas story you’re looking for. The story by Donovan Hohn reads like Santas Workshop gone haywire on the high seas, with beachcombers rescuing stranded toys, an oceanographer (Curtis Ebbesmeyer) who tracks them down, and a journalist who survived to tell the Christmas tale. The illustrations are great, too. This Christmas, I recommend Moby Duck for anyone looking to cuddle up on the couch with a story.

If you can’t find a copy of Harpers you might check their website next month or introduce yourself to the saga online at the Beachcombers website.

The post This Christmas, make it "Moby Duck" first appeared on Deep Sea News.

It would be nice to tell a Christmas story here at Deep Sea News. Its a challenge if nothing else. I actually had one all dreamed up, with a submarine rising from the depths with a deep coral tree in its arms, accompanied to the surface by whales and dolphins. Then my wife picked up Harpers Magazine (January 2007) with a cover story called “Moby Duck” wherein the author spins a tale of 10,000 rubber duckies spilled overboard en route from China to Tacoma.

This might be the Christmas story you’re looking for. The story by Donovan Hohn reads like Santas Workshop gone haywire on the high seas, with beachcombers rescuing stranded toys, an oceanographer (Curtis Ebbesmeyer) who tracks them down, and a journalist who survived to tell the Christmas tale. The illustrations are great, too. This Christmas, I recommend Moby Duck for anyone looking to cuddle up on the couch with a story.

If you can’t find a copy of Harpers you might check their website next month or introduce yourself to the saga online at the Beachcombers website.

The post This Christmas, make it “Moby Duck” first appeared on Deep Sea News.