This week in jellyfish

[Jeff]

Time Magazine

Jellyfish: A Gelatinous Invasion

By Stephan Faris / Rome Monday, Nov. 02, 2009

The jellyfish in the photos didn't look like they'd pose a danger to swimmers. Thinly veined and translucent, they didn't have stinging tentacles trailing behind them or dramatic colors signaling danger. But Ferdinando Boero, a professor of zoology at the University of Salento in Italy, knew that they meant trouble nonetheless.

The pictures, sent by a biologist in the northern Italian town of Lerici in July, marked the first time the species Mnemiopsis leidyi, a thumb-size jellyfish known as the sea walnut, had been documented in the western Mediterranean Sea. Native to the Atlantic coast of the U.S., Mnemiopsis was introduced to the Black Sea in the 1980s — most likely from the ballast water of oil tankers — and played an instrumental role in the collapse of the region's fisheries. "Now the question is, Will it do in the Mediterranean the same thing it did in the Black Sea?" Boero says. "It's harmless for [humans], but it can be deadly for the fish."

The ominous discovery — the result of Boero's request that all Italians report their jellyfish sightings — came during a series of unusually prolific jellyfish seasons 
 over the past five years. This summer, jellyfish outbreaks forced numerous resorts along the Mediterranean coast to shut their beaches. In Corsica and Tuscany, several swimmers were wounded by Portuguese man-of-wars, jellyfish-like creatures with a potentially fatal sting. In Tunisia, a swarm of jellyfish engulfed a fish farm, killing the year's production of sea bass and sea bream.

...

[norton ash]

The jellyfish have run this joint all along... and now they're taking it back.

A sea of snot will now lap up against Athens, Rome, Jerusalem, Carthage, Alexandria, Cadiz, Nicaea, Constantinople, Malta. Giant boogers will accumulate and burst from the Pillars of Hercules.

O jellyfish.

[elfismiles]

Japanese fishing trawler sunk by giant jellyfish
A 10-ton fishing boat has been sunk by gigantic jellyfish off eastern Japan.

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Published: 7:00AM GMT 02 Nov 2009

Nomura's jellyfish: The crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler

The trawler, the Diasan Shinsho-maru, capsized off Chiba`as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net containing dozens of huge Nomura's jellyfish.

Each of the jellyfish can weigh up to 200 kg and waters around Japan have been inundated with the creatures this year. Experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of China, have been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months.

The crew of the fishing boat was thrown into the sea when the vessel capsized, but the three men were rescued by another trawler, according to the Mainichi newspaper. The local Coast Guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.

One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the species can grow up to 2 meters in diameter. The last time Japan was invaded on a similar scale, in the summer of 2005, the jellyfish damaged nets, rendered fish inedible with their toxic stings and even caused injuries to fishermen.

Relatively little is known about Nomura's jellyfish, such as why some years see thousands of the creatures floating across the Sea of Japan on the Tsushima Current, but last year there were virtually no sightings. In 2007, there were 15,500 reports of damage to fishing equipment caused by the creatures.

Experts believe that one contributing factor to the jellyfish becoming more frequent visitors to Japanese waters may be a decline in the number of predators, which include sea turtles and certain species of fish.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/648375 ... yfish.html

[Alaya]

Omg, that's the stuff nightmares are made of.

[Jeff]

Vibrations key to efficiency of green fluorescent protein

12.11.2009

Charting femtosecond energy flow could aid redesign of molecules to improve light capture

University of California, Berkeley, chemists have discovered the secret to the success of a jellyfish protein whose green glow has made it the darling of biologists and the subject of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The researchers' study of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the structural changes it undergoes when it fluoresces is the cover story of the Nov. 12 issue of the journal Nature.

GFP has replaced many dyes in biological studies because it is non-toxic and, when attached to a gene and inserted into an organism, serves as a bright, glowing confirmation that the gene has hit its target. Obtained originally from a bioluminescent Pacific Ocean jellyfish, the protein has been mutated and engineered to absorb and emit various colors.

The UC Berkeley chemists used extremely short laser pulses – 20 millionths of a nanosecond, or 20 femtoseconds – to take snapshots of GFP to determine the structural changes it undergoes when it fluoresces. Only a rapid, strobe-like laser can freeze atoms vibrating 100,000 times every nanosecond, or a hundred trillion times a second.

...

"A lot of people have studied green fluorescent protein for many years and found out that proton transfer in the excited state emits a very efficient flash – for every 100 blue photons going in, 80 green ones come out," said first author Chong Fang, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry. "This experiment shows why it is so efficient with vivid atomistic details."

Previous studies had shown that after the chromophore absorbs blue light, it undergoes proton transfer, and green light is emitted. In the current study, Mathies, Fang and their colleagues could actually resolve the early stage of this proton transfer reaction, taking snapshots of the vibrational wagging of the chromophore skeleton in sync with the electron cloud in the chromophore sloshing back and forth. However, the wagging oscillation might have stopped after a few picoseconds, when the chromophore and its vicinity are aligned just right for the proton to hop off down the reaction chain, and the whole protein shines bright green – which it does in its own good time, in about 3 nanoseconds.

...

http://www.innovations-report.de/html/b ... 43451.html

[Jeff]

Society for Neuroscience Report Highlights Ability of Jellyfish Protein to Protect Neurons Following a Stroke

Madison, Wisconsin, November 11, 2009 – Data presented last month at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience highlighted the ability of aequorin, a jellyfish-derived protein, to protect neurons in those who have suffered a stroke.

The report stems from the work a group of research chemists began almost 50 years ago, when they found that the luminescent protein taken from the jellyfish Aequoria victorea was shown to be a safe calcium indicator throughout different biological systems. In 2008, this body of work brought Osamu Shimomura, Roger Tsien and Martin Chalfie the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

A few years earlier, Madison-based Quincy Bioscience, in partnership with a Yale-trained physician and expert in the field of calcium-mediated dementia and cellular death, found in their own research of this protein that aequorin was indeed neuroprotective, and showed promise as a natural therapeutic response for neurodegenerative diseases.

...

The calcium hypothesis of brain aging shows one of the reasons for neurodegeneration is the brain cell’s inability to regulate calcium ions. Calcium binding proteins (CaBPs) are intracellular proteins that help regular calcium. Their decline is gradual in the normal aging process but accelerated in memory loss disorders, and believed to contribute to elevated calcium ion levels – which in turn negatively affects brain function. As a result brain cells are damaged or killed leading to increased cognitive decline.

Most people lose 30,000 to 50,000 brain cells daily, and lose significantly more after age 40, which can eventually lead to cognitive challenges such as an impaired ability to learn and retain information – as well as memory loss.

The team led by Dr. Shimomura found aequorin to be a naturally-occurring CaBP, with a DNA structure very similar to CaBPs produced in the brain. Quincy Bioscience has filed patents for the purposes of utilizing aequorin in neuronal calcium regulation – in its attempt to halt or prevent these illnesses so prevalent in the human condition.

Reinforced by the work of Nobel Prize winners, the hoped for result will be improved brain health, better memory, greater focus and concentration, allowing all of us to age with grace and dignity.

http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cf ... egoryid=15

[Blue]

Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world


KOKONOGI, Japan — A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass.

The fishermen leaned into the nets, grunting and grumbling as they tossed the translucent jellyfish back into the bay, giants weighing up to 200 kilograms (450 pounds), marine invaders that are putting the men's livelihoods at risk.

The venom of the Nomura, the world's largest jellyfish, a creature up to 2 meters (6 feet) in diameter, can ruin a whole day's catch by tainting or killing fish stung when ensnared with them in the maze of nets here in northwest Japan's Wakasa Bay.

"Some fishermen have just stopped fishing," said Taiichiro Hamano, 67. "When you pull in the nets and see jellyfish, you get depressed."

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-wo ... sh.Menace/

Yum, Giant Jellyfish Ice Cream!

Some entrepreneurs, meanwhile, are trying to cash in. One Japanese company is selling giant jellyfish ice cream, and another plans a pickled plum dip with chunks of giant jellyfish. But, though a popular delicacy, jellyfish isn't likely to replace sushi or other fish dishes on Asian menus anytime soon, in view of its time-consuming processing, heavy sodium overload and unappealing image.

[sw]

Turritopsis nutricula (Immortal jellyfish)



The Immortal jellyfish is one of the most unique animals not just within the species of jellyfish, but within the entire history of the animal kingdom. It has actually managed to accomplish the one feat that has been yearned by many and accomplished by none. It appears to have cheated death and hence transformed itself into a perpetually immortal being! Let me explain how this works.

Immortal jellyfish, like most other species of jellyfish are either male or female. They do not have a specialized reproduction system. The male releases his sperms into the column of water. They come in contact with eggs that are present in the stomach of the female jellyfish. During the embryonic stage, they are either settled onto the mouth or the oral arms of the female. After they have passed this stage, they transform into free swimming planulae and separate themselves from the body of their mother. They float along the surface of the water for a few days and then settle on a hard, stationary object like the surface of a rock.

At this stage, they become transformed into polyps. These polyps become stationary as well. They continue to feed on microscopic plankton and zooplankton at this stage. This polyp then begins to grow multiple identical polyps until it becomes a colony. This colony of multiple polyps is also stationary and attached to the hard surface at its base. All the polyps are connected with minute feeding tubes and they receive equal nourishment from their microscopic diet. The colony of polyp can remain in this stage for years at a time. When the condition is right, this colony of polyp begins to grow horizontal grooves. The groove at the top is the fastest to mature, and will soon free itself and become a free swimming jellyfish.

This process of reproduction is common to most species of jellyfish. What is unique about the immortal jellyfish is that after reproducing sexually, they are able to return to their polyp stage. When most fish die after their sexual maturity, immortal jellyfish get transformed back into a polyp and restart the process of asexual reproduction. In this way, the jellyfish is able to convert itself back into a polyp, start a polyp colony again and give birth to a number of new jellyfish.

How does the immortal jellyfish accomplish this feat? It is through cell development process of transdifferentiation. What this means is that it can alter the differentiated state of the cell and transform it into a new cell. In this process of transdifferentiation, the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on infinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish immortal.

[Jeff]

Trouble surfaces as jellyfish infestations grow worldwide

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Michael Casey, The Associated Press

KOKONOGI, Japan – A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass.

The fishermen leaned into the nets, grunting and grumbling as they tossed the translucent jellyfish back into the bay, giants weighing up to 450 pounds, marine invaders that are putting the men's livelihoods at risk.

The venom of the Nomura, the world's largest jellyfish, a creature up to 6 feet in diameter, can ruin a whole day's catch by tainting or killing fish stung when ensnared with them in the maze of nets here in northwest Japan's Wakasa Bay.

"Some fishermen have just stopped fishing," said Taiichiro Hamano, 67. "When you pull in the nets and see jellyfish, you get depressed."

This year's jellyfish swarm is one of the worst he has seen, Hamano said. Once considered a rarity occurring every 40 years, they are now an almost annual occurrence along several thousand miles of Japanese coast, and far beyond Japan.

Scientists believe climate change – the warming of oceans – has allowed some of the almost 2,000 jellyfish species to expand their ranges, appear earlier in the year and increase overall numbers.

The gelatinous seaborne creatures are blamed for decimating fishing industries in the Bering and Black seas, forcing the shutdown of seaside power and desalination plants in Japan, the Middle East and Africa, and terrorizing beachgoers worldwide, the U.S. National Science Foundation says.

Increasingly polluted waters boost growth of the microscopic plankton that "jellies" feed upon, while overfishing has eliminated many of the jellyfish's predators and cut down on competitors for plankton feed.

A U.S. marine scientist, Jennifer Purcell of Western Washington University, has found a correlation between warming and jellyfish in at least 11 locations besides Japan, including the Mediterranean and North seas and Chesapeake and Narragansett bays.

...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 5cc71.html

[Blue]

A newly identified species, a loriciferan identified as a species of the genus Spinoloricus has been discovered by Roberto Danovaro at the Polytechnic University of Marche in Ancona, Italy. Electron microscopy revealed the three new species of loriciferans, resembling jellyfish sprouting from a conical shell, that lack mitochondria, the energy-making organelles or components in our cells that allow us to generate energy from oxygen among other functions. Instead, they possess large numbers of organelles resembling hydrogenosomes — anaerobic forms of mitochondria — that were previously seen in single-celled organisms inhabiting zero-oxygen environments.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/20 ... forms.html

[elfismiles]

So, one of my best friends had his second ufo sighting shortly after midnight, just about 24 hours ago.

He called me right afterwards and left me voicemail.

This evening I met with him and went over this new sighting.

While grappling with words to accurately describe it he says "like a jellyfish."

He's drawn me some pics and I hope to write something brief about it soon.

What a world!

[elfismiles]

Jellyfish Survival Story
by Mike Krumboltz
In December, a ten-year-old Australian girl named Rachel Shardlow was attacked by one of the most venomous creatures in the world, the deadly box jellyfish. And, Rachel wasn't just stung. According to CNN, the box jellyfish completely enveloped her until she lost consciousness.

Normally, when a person meets a box jellyfish, the result is near instant death for the human. But Rachel not only survived her encounter; several months later, she's doing reasonably well. Her surprising story of survival has led at least one professor to credit her with being a medical marvel.

View a flickr gallery of box jellyfish photos.


Photo by VannaGocaraRupa

In an interview with Australia's ABC news, zoology professor Jamie Seymour said that Ms. Shardlow's injuries were "horrific." The doctor added, "Usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of the tentacle contacts on their body, it's usually in a morgue."

Just how unlikely was Ms. Shardlow's survival? Again, according to the professor, "I don't know of anybody in the entire literature where we've studied this where someone has had such an extensive sting that has survived.”

The young survivor isn't 100% herself after being attacked. She has suffered some memory loss and has scarring on her legs where the jellyfish wrapped itself. Still, the father reports that Rachel's "cognitive skills and memory tests were all fine."

The recent interview has led to a lot of searches on "pictures of box jellyfish" and "box jellyfish map." National Geographic writes that the creatures "live primarily in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific." And as for how they got their name? Some think their bell looks a bit like a cube.

http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93616?fp=1

[norton ash]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4UtbrbsrjY

Gorillaz "Superfast Jellyfish" ... jellyfish as a quick breakfast. From the new album Plastic Beach.

These particular pranksters continue to freak me out on a regular basis.

[elfismiles]

Not jellyfish but...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doWOdB1d0mg


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7877249856


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUNHwP2q7bA

[beeline]

Link

Jellyfish sting survivor 'shouldn't be alive'

A 10-year-old girl's survival after an encounter with a box jellyfish in Queensland last year could be a one-of-a-kind story, experts say.

Rachael Shardlow was stung by the world's most venomous creature while swimming 23 kilometres upstream from the ocean mouth in the Calliope River, near Gladstone, in December.

Rachael's 13-year-old brother, Sam, pulled her onto the riverbank. She told him she could not see or breathe, and fell unconscious with the jellyfish's tentacles strapped to her limbs.

Zoology and tropical ecology associate professor at James Cook University, Jamie Seymour, says the girl's survival after such an extensive sting is unheard of.

"I don't know of anybody in the entire literature where we've studied this where someone has had such an extensive sting that has survived," he said.

"When I first saw the pictures of the injuries I just went, 'you know to be honest, this kid should not be alive'. I mean they are horrific.

"Usually when you see people who have been stung by box jellyfish with that number of the tentacle contacts on their body, it's usually in a morgue."

Associate professor Seymour says the university is interested to see how long it takes for Rachael to recover, as well as whether there are any long-term effects.

"From our point of view it's really useful information that you very seldom, if ever, get your hands on," he said.

Rachael's father, Geoff Shardlow, says his daughter has scarring as well as some short-term memory loss.

"We've noticed a small amount of short-term memory loss, like riding a pushbike to school and forgetting she's taken a pushbike," he said.

"The greatest fear was actual brain damage [but] her cognitive skills and memory tests were all fine."

Mr Shardlow says it is vital there are more jellyfish warning signs erected throughout central Queensland.

Tags: health, medical-research, human-interest, animal-attacks, qld, gladstone-4680

First posted Tue Apr 27, 2010 8:27am AEST