The #tunicates here around Mabul, Borneo would like to share their assessment of the current state of democracy in the United States.

#Jellyfish may dominate the future Arctic Ocean https://www.awi.de/en/about-us/service/press/single-view/quallen-koennten-kuenftig-den-arktischen-ozean-dominieren.html

Pan-#Arctic distribution modeling reveals #ClimateChange driven poleward shifts of major gelatinous #zooplankton species https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lno.12568

"jellyfish and other gelatinous zooplankton could be some of the few organism groups to benefit from #climate change... the transparent #cnidarians, #ctenophores and pelagic #tunicates thrive on rising water temperatures, nutrient contamination and #overfishing."

Bizarre ancient #sea creature brings evolution mystery to the surface
A new #tunicate #fossil, a close relative of vertebrates, is half a billion years old. There is now strong evidence that #tunicates are the closest relatives to #vertebrates, but a mystery still surrounds them. How did they evolve, and what did they evolve from? A 500 million-year-old fossil is now telling us more about the #evolution of these peculiar life forms. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/07/bizarre-ancient-sea-creature-brings-evolution-mystery-to-the-surface/

6-JUL-2023
Discovery of 500-million-year-old fossil reveals astonishing secrets of tunicate origins
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/994062

#science #evolution #fossils #tunicates

Discovery of 500-million-year-old #fossil reveals astonishing secrets of tunicate origins https://phys.org/news/2023-07-discovery-million-year-old-fossil-reveals-astonishing.html

A mid-#Cambrian #tunicate and the deep origin of the #ascidiacean body plan https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39012-4

"Ancestral #tunicates lived as stationary, filter-feeding adults and likely underwent #metamorphosis from a tadpole-like larva."

"Jet-propelled #tunicates pump #carbon through the #oceans"

https://phys.org/news/2023-01-jet-propelled-tunicates-carbon-oceans.html#!

Jet-Propelled #Tunicates Pump #Carbon Through the Oceans https://eos.org/research-spotlights/jet-propelled-tunicates-pump-carbon-through-the-oceans

Populations of these gelatinous #zooplankton are episodic, patchy. Sometimes they bloom and form huge aggregations. Their feces, daily migrations, and sinking carcasses sequester carbon into the #DeepSea. This is especially prominent in retentive or low-export #FoodWebs.

The Outsized Role of #Salps in Carbon Export in the #Subarctic Northeast #PacificOcean: Deborah Steinberg et al. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GB007523

I adore this image so much. I think it looks like a painting! Sea squirts from a marina in Suffolk. 2022 was the year I first went dock fouling. 😍

#marinebiology #marinebiologyuk #seasquirt #seasquirts #tunicate #tunicates #northsea #sea #ocean #biology #wildlife #nature #dockfouling

I can’t wait to go dock fouling again. This colonial sea squirt Botrylloides diegensis was pretty special.

#marinebiology #marinebiologyuk #tunicate #northsea #sea #ocean #biology #tunicates #marinetaxonomy #wildlife #nature #seasquirt #dockfouling