jelly fish

[orbsycli]

i've seen some jelly fish in the monterey bay aquarium that have synchronized lights that move up it's thin jelly exoshell.
i know (well at least i think i do) that the lights are chemicals and what-not...but what causes them to be perfectly synchronized?

it's like watching a UFO, or some sort of biological machine. an engineered cyborg used for distraction warfare.
i wouldn't think this was so strange if there were just random impulses of light here and there...but little dots of light blink upwards in some rhythm i can not explain. can you?

[Fishteacher73]

Bioluminescence in jellyfish (cnidaria and ctenophora) is pretty common. How it is controlled or what intiates the cascade is still unknown. Here's a good link to bioluminescence along with physiology, chemistry and biology og the many types:

http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/

[Turtle]

___Our NW beaches right now are covered with dead Purple Sail Jellyfish; something to do with breeding migration. They say they have a toxin but just touching them probably won't hurt you, unless you then put your hands in your mouth or eyes.
___I have seen the ones you saw Orby on TV & I have wondered as you how the patterning is achieved. Being of a mathematical bent I have to wonder how DNA codes up math patterns. Whether or not it is possible to identify certain DNA segments as mathematical algorthms tied to a specific expression in an animal that manifests mathematically. For example, the number of eyes, or legs, fins, etc.
___Further, if you video taped the jellys making patterns over time, it may be possible to show how they derive from math algorthm(s). Or I could just stare at them for hours & empty my mind; either way.

[orbsycli]

either way is right.
wow, well it's still unknown...amazing.
to study the patterns and find repitition would be such a great project, endevour, adventure.
i want to do it.
i'll write a song based upon the Bioluminescent synchronization pattern!

[Turtle]

___I'll write a poem!

Jellyfish, jellyfish, mystery glow,
tell us your secrets we wish to know.

[Fishteacher73]

It is believed in jellyfish (it is quite common in marine organisms) that there is a stimuli causation of the firing sequence. Jellys have only nervous nets with no central brain or ganglia. They are interconnected (severing the network in half allows both sides to continue to coordinate the beating of the cillia, but not in concert with each other).

[Turtle]

___All the better to find such complex patterns from so simple a system. Does the phrase 'stimuli causation' mean it displays different patterns depending on whether its scared, mating, hunting, etc? Do individuals ever sync up & display the same pattern?
___

[Fishteacher73]

Jellis do not have "eyes" so there would be no visual clues. The main reasons for such a display are a) Jellies are heterotrophic and use the light paterns to lure prey; B) Defensively, a sudden pattern or flashing lights may be enough to deter apredator.

Causation would be automatic to certain stimuli, such as chemical sensing, physical contact, etc. It is believed that an external source intiates the sequence. The jelly has no ability to intiate or alter the firing sequence itself.