Mystical ocean barriers have stopped several deep-sea jellyfish in the Arctic from reaching the Atlantic, a new study found.
The members of the animal, jellyfish subspecies, Botorinema Brucei ellinorae, live at depths of 3,300-6,600 feet (1,000-2,000 meters) and can be divided into two groups based on whether individual specimens have knobs in umbrella-like bell structures.
“This jellyfish […] Research author Javier Montenegro, a biologist at the University of Western Australia, said in a statement that Javier Montenegro, the lead author of the study of author Javier Montenegro.
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The anatomy of marine creatures affects global distribution in some way. There are jellyfish with distinctive knobs that live in all seas and latitudes, but those without knobs are only recorded in the Arctic and subpolar Circle.
For this study, Montenegro and his colleagues examined observations and photographic records of B. brucei ellinorae, dating back more than 120 years. The researchers then mapped the distribution of jellyfish subspecies by combining these records with genetic analysis. They published the results in the online edition of the journal Deep Sea Research on July 3rd.
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Genetic data are B with or without knobs below the Arctic and subpolar. The bruceiellinorae specimen showed that it was nearly identical to the specimen with the knobs of the Western Atlantic Ocean. This suggested that despite strong genetic similarity, nobless jellyfish could not leave the frigid water.
So how do animals shapes determine their distribution? Access to the Atlantic appears to be blocked by biological obstacles, or barriers that are determined by local geography, rather than physical obstacles.
“Despite the strong genetic similarity between specimens, it suggests the existence of unknown deep-sea biogeographic barriers in the Atlantic, despite strong genetic similarity above and below the 47 degrees north,” Montenegro said.
The barrier lies within North Atlantic drift, a warm current extending north from the Gulf Coast, but it is unclear whether the current itself is a barrier to the Knobless jellyfish. A possible explanation may be that there may be predators lurking over North Atlantic drifts where jelly is not well equipped to escape, but it is unclear if having a knob is advantageous.
The barrier “can maintain specimens without knobs trapped in the north and allow free transport of specimens with knobs further south,” Montenegro said.
According to this study, such barriers are not needed to know Brucei ellinorae in the Arctic Circle on the Pacific side, as the Bering Strait already blocks the deepest sea creatures from moving south. The channel is only 165 feet (50 m), so B. Deep sea jellyfish like bruceiellinorae cannot cross it.
Discovering potential marine barriers associated with North Atlantic drift is important as it helps scientists to better understand evolutionary relationships and dispersion patterns. “The presence of two specimens with distinctive shapes within a single genetic lineage underscores the need for further study of biodiversity in gelatinous marine animals,” Montenegro said.
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