There is an explosion in numbers of an unusual jellyfish called salps
It is a great example of the relationship between food supply and animal population numbers. The situation is very dynamic. They expand rapidly to exploit a food surplus, then exhaust the supply of food, and die out.
A bit like the way developers fill a software need, and then run out of customers.
I love sea swimming but hate jelly fish. Some days I cannot go into the sea as they arrive on our shore.
Luckily we have a sea fed lake closer to my apartment which does not attract them so usually safe
For me jelly fish are the wasp of the planet and serve no purpose
You are actually closely related to them, from a DNA point of view.
My family and other animals
Never knew this. Interesting.
“Although humans and jellyfish would seem to be about as different as possible, we actually share 60% of our DNA with them. In fact, some scientists believe, based on genetic studies, that comb jellies — one of the oldest known species — may be an early human ancestor, long before life moved to dry land.”
Gerald Durell… I liked his books
It is because DNA sequences tend to be retained on the chromosomes, even if they are not active. Our DNA is like a collection of old blueprints… most of them not in use.
In that sense, evolution is very conservative… it hangs onto things that once were useful.
Salps are not actually that closely related to jellyfish at all…
I think was @nevj was getting as was that salps are actually “chordates” - the group to which we, as vertebrates, belong. i.e. they appear like jellyfish, but actually have a notochord (the thing that evolved into our backbone).
So we’re more closely related to salps, than we are to jellyfish, or molluscs, or arthropods…
Yeah, they also have a gut and muscles. Lots of common DNA to get that.
Do they have brains cant they think , do they swim or navigate or have intelligence ?
Or are they just out to get me ?
Paranoïa…
“They’re more closely related to us than they are to normal jellyfish,” Dr Gershwin said.
"They’ve got all of our organs — well, most of our organs: they don’t have eyes.
“But they’ve got a brain, they’ve got a heart, they’ve got lungs, a stomach, a back end, they have muscles.”
Salps reproduce at massive speed, doubling every 12 hours.
“Salps can grow up to 10 per cent of their body length per hour,” Dr Gershwin said.
“Let’s say that it’s born at midnight. By noon, it’s a parent, and by midnight, it’s a grandparent.”
With that reproduction rate, they may be a useful producer of protein
This came from Quora
" humans can eat jellyfish, salps, and anemones. In various cultures, they are consumed as food, although preparation methods may vary."
Cannot imagine eating them but I don’t do sushi
