Sunday, February 17, 2019

The Pink Meanie, New Jellyfish Species: Pair With a Nice Peanut Butter?

        With up to 100-foot-long tentacles and measuring three to five feet in diameter, the Pink Meanie jellyfish, classified as a new species in the Gulf of Mexico in 2011, is both striking in appearance and in stingyness (not stinginess!). 



       Officially named Drymonema larsoni, the rare giant pink invertebrate looms large and menacing in the Gulf Waters. It was the first new jellyfish family named since the 1920's.


      Up to 30 moon jellies have been found inside a single Pink Meanie. 
      


       
      “It’s rare that something like this could escape the notice of scientific research for so long. That it did is partially due to Drymonema’s extreme rarity almost everywhere in the world, except the northern Gulf of Mexico, where it bloomed in 2000. However, much of the project’s success can be tied to the use of molecular techniques, such as DNA sequencing, in addition to more traditional visual examination,” stated Dr. Keith Bayha from Dauphin Island Sea Lab.


     The kindergartners made great Pink Meanie models and enjoyed the moniker greatly:



        They were aghast that most jellyfish projects for kids give the jellyfish models eyes. Not on our Pink Meanies!



Are you surprised it took so long to discover these giant, pink jellies? Do you have a different nickname suggestion?

Steph

41 comments:

  1. Mesmerizing Pink Meanie video (3+ minutes):

    https://youtu.be/FQsw8H4i6Qk

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  2. The generic name and northern Gulf of Mexico location remind me of Scott Joplin's "Treemonisha". The specific name and weirdness remind me of Gary Larson.

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    1. What a perfect combination, especially with Mr. Larson in there in wonderful weirdness.

      And “Treemonisha” reminds me of “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin (4 pages; quite worthwhile). My Senegalese student loved it:

      http://www.katechopin.org/pdfs/desirees-baby.pdf

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    2. From Daniel Quinn's polemic "Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit":

      “This story takes place a half a billion years ago-an inconceivably long time ago, when this planet would be all but recognizable to you. Nothing at all stirred on the land except the wind and the dust. Not a single blade of grass waved in the wind, not a single cricket chirped, not a single bird soared in the sky. All these things were tens of millions of years away in the future.
      But of course there was an anthropologist on hand. What sort of world would it be without an anthropologist? He was, however a very depressed and disillusioned anthropologist, for he'd been everywhere on the planet looking for someone to interview, and every tape in his knapsack was as blank as the sky. But one day as he was moping alongside the ocean he saw what seemed to be a living creature in the shallows off shore. It was nothing to brag about, just sort of a squishy blob, but it was the only prospect he'd seen in all his journeys, so he waded out to where it was bobbing in the waves.
      He greeted the creature politely and was greeted in kind, and soon the two of them were good friends. The anthropologist explained as well as he could that he was a student of life-styles and customs, and begged his new friend for information of this sort, which was readily forthcoming. ‘And now’, he said at last, ‘I'd like to get on tape in your own words some of the stories you tell among yourselves.’
      ‘Stories?’ the other asked.
      ‘You know, like your creation myth, if you have one.’
      ‘What is a creation myth?’ the creature asked.
      ‘Oh, you know,’ the anthropologist replied, ‘the fanciful tale you tell your children about the origins of the world.’
      Well, at this, the creature drew itself up indignantly- at least as well as a squishy blob can do- and replied that his people had no such fanciful tale.
      ‘You have no account of creation then?’
      ‘Certainly we have an account of creation,’ the other snapped. ‘But its definitely not a myth.’
      ‘Oh certainly not,’ the anthropologist said, remembering his training at last. ‘Ill be terribly grateful if you share it with me.’
      ‘Very well,’ the creature said. ‘But I want you to understand that, like you, we are a strictly rational people, who accept nothing that is not based on observation, logic, and scientific method.’
      ‘"Of course, of course,’ the anthropologist agreed.
      So at last the creature began its story. ‘The universe,’ it said, ‘was born a long, long time ago, perhaps ten or fifteen billion years ago. Our own solar system-this star, this planet, and all the others- seem to have come into being some two or three billion years ago. For a long time, nothing whatever lived here. But then, after a billion years or so, life appeared.’
      ‘Excuse me,’ the anthropologist said. ‘You say that life appeared. Where did that happen, according to your myth- I mean, according to your scientific account.’
      The creature seemed baffled by the question and turned a pale lavender. ‘Do you mean in what precise spot?’
      ‘No. I mean, did this happen on land or in the sea?’
      ‘Land?’ the other asked. ‘What is land?’
      ‘Oh, you know,’ he said, waving toward the shore, ‘the expanse of dirt and rocks that begins over there.’
      The creature turned a deeper shade of lavender and said, ‘I cant imagine what you're gibbering about. The dirt and rocks over there are simply the lip of the vast bowl that holds the sea.’
      ‘Oh yes,’ the anthropologist said, ‘I see what you mean. Quite. Go on.’
      ‘Very well,’ the other said. ‘For many millions of centuries the life of the world was merely microorganisms floating helplessly in a chemical broth. But little by little, more complex forms appeared: single-celled creatures, slimes, algae, polyps, and so on.’
      ‘But finally,’ the creature said, turning quite pink with pride as he came to the climax of his story, ‘but finally jellyfish appeared!”

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    3. Wonderful!

      Btw, eco, today I met a teacher from the Carbondale Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork. Lots of straw bale construction there, including a cut-away where you can view the straw bale through a small window. Lots of wonderful windows and opening to the outdoors:

      https://www.waldorfschoolrf.com/

      Have you visited there?

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    4. I haven't visited, but have known about the school for >20 years. It's well known (at least in the strawbale community) as the first strawbale school building. I think I did the second and third. Carbondale is a hotbed for strawbale, probably the highest concentration in the country.

      And yes, the "Truth Window" is an important feature in bale buildings; all of mine have one, a popular portal for visitors.

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    5. eco, If you use straw bales for a certain religious school is that Christian Bales?

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    6. Ha-ha, is he your personal Vice?

      The first strawbale school I did was also for a Waldorf School, a small 2 room classroom building. Waldorf is kind of Christian, more Judeo-Christian heritage than any specific branch, like Protestant or Lutheran (or cult as some around here would say).

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  3. Of squids, octopi, and cuttlefish. I wish the article had plunged into more depth, but the pictures are pretty cool.

    Not so wild about genetically modifying bobtail squid.

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    1. eco, thanks. They are cool images.

      The colors reminded me of a conundrum that came up in a silk dyeing workshop in Boulder. Why are red and yellow readily available in nature (plants, foods, minerals) but the third primary color, blue, is quite rare? Yes, there are indigo things like the indigo plant (which once was a huge crop in South Carolina), blueberries, even blue cheese. Yet, true blue things with which to dye are not available in the ranges comparable to red and yellow.

      Why?

      Perfect for question an upside down morning.

      Or maybe I need more coffee first.

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    2. Woad is interesting, especially since it is illegal to grow it in some states.

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    3. Blue is to dye for. I think I've posted this routine here before. I remember listening to (what seemed like a longer version of) this and other Carlin routines when I was in 8. The 7 words you can't say was also on that album, a thrill for us, as well as H-E-double toothpick.

      Was the discussion here about how rare the color green is in mammals? Can't remember - I also don't remember what I did yesterday as well as the Carlin routine.

      Do states still ban growing hemp? I just bought a replacement hemp bag for my laptop, a tradition I've had for 16+ years.

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  4. Sound waves may carry mass:

    https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/sound-waves-mass-0423/

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    1. A real flurry of activity. Are you still buried in the snowpocalypse?

      I've wondered about negative gravity as a possible alternative to the Big Bang (perhaps it's a force behind dark matter/ energy. But then I realize I have no idea what I'm thinking about, and go back to drawing pictures.

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    2. We have dug out. In fact, I had a dental cleaning with my downtown dentist yesterday afternoon and drove there and back faster than I have ever made the trip. Almost all schools were closed Wednesday and Thursday so many of the students’ parents stayed home, too. The main roads were completely clear of both snow and cars.

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    3. Well, mostly clear of cars. . .

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    4. In 1979 the DC area got an overnight blast of snow, which was really cool (article says 20", but I measured 36" in our yard). It took 4 days for the snow plows to make it to my neighborhood, which was also really cool - I had blasted my beater Ford out on Thursday.

      But they reopened the schools on Friday, definitely not so cool.

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  5. I figured this was the best place to post this:

    https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/mammoth-moves-frozen-cells-come-life-only-just-doc-1ei3xa1

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  6. Well, I couldn’t stonewall this:

    http://theconversation.com/old-stone-walls-record-the-changing-location-of-magnetic-north-112827

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    1. Are there not also accurate markings and monuments for the Mason Dixon line? Much longer (not sure what that's worth) and possibly more carefully done?

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  7. Panamint Range reflection:

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/flooding-creates-10-mile-long-lake-death-valley-180971699/

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  8. While the school up the street has done some bad things, once in a while it does something good.

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  9. Oh, the Sand Hill Cranes in Monte Vista, CO! Video forthcoming. . .

    My favorite part was watching them put their legs down, oh so gracefully, just before landing. And their faces. And their chuckling. Well, I guess I don’t truly have a favorite part.

    We watched for 3 1/2 hours as this group fed and flew and strutted next to a cow pasture. The barley the Monte Vista Wildlife Sanctuary planted to the south was no match for cowpies and cow company. It was an extraordinary experience.

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    1. They are pretty remarkable - some winter in the Central Valley (CA) fields near the town of Lodi, which has its Sandhill arrival festival in November. Usually they are gone by February.

      I wonder what they found while cowering? Maybe the flies and other bugs? More protein than barley. And you get the squishy explosion of flavor as you clamp down, can't beak that!

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    2. eco, I think it was, indeed, protein related. Crane cowpies? Can’t beak that for sure!

      I plan a new post on Sand Hill Cranes this week. Here’s a sneak peek at our day with them yesterday:

      https://youtu.be/-FxkpM1197Q

      The kindergartners said in unison “Oh my God!”


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    3. I hope it wasn't Maizie who spooked them into flight; I didn't hear barking and you kept a respectful distance.

      I also hope you can motivate the kindergartners to bug their parents into taking them on their own outing, much more inspiring than the ball room at McD's.

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    4. No, we’re not sure what caused the perturbation in their world. A butterfly effect?

      Maizie stayed in the car, looking out the window, taking it all in with her usual keen yet gentle awareness. When all the loudest overhead crane noise was over she took a nap.

      I was outside the car and another (stranger) birder handed me her binoculars, all without a word. It was almost too incredible to explain or describe.

      Yes, hopefully the kindergartners are inspired to see the cranes in person one day soon.

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    5. I think they just like flying. They're good at it. Didn't see a single collision. Nobody's Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System flew them into the ground, either.

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    6. Yes! Flying just to fly. You can see the joy on their faces.

      jan, you are right: no MCAS and everyone stayed aloft. Sometimes they look to be flying in opposite directions toward each other . . .but no collisions.

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    7. A single starling is not much to look at, but a large flock in murmuration is a sight to behold. And the bats in Austin.

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  10. Now that a jury has established that Roundup causes cancer, is Monsanto going to team up with He Jiankui to make Roundup-Ready babies?

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  11. New post on "What the Sand Hill: Cranes, Lanes, and Automobiles" is now available.

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