JELLYFISH with Rebecca Helm

Welcome to the deep sea of small and geez. Small and geez are for anyone. Really, they're for kids. Their classroom safe, kid friendly, jeated. Therefore, anyone who wants a shorter digest of our episodes, they're small. So welcome to Jellyfish. I loved making this one. What are Jellyfish? What do they look like? What are they doing? You're about to find out. Okay. So Medusology, it is a word. It's the study of Jellyfish. And it comes from Leneas, who named Jellyfish Medusai, after the Greek Gorgon, who had snakes for hair, and turned men into stone. And according to many scholars, it's a symbol for female rage. So I don't know what kind of complex feelings Leneas had about women or Jellyfish. But either way, there are over 2000 species of Jellyfish. Some informs that are teeny tiny, and others like the lion's mane are over three feet in diameter at certain points in their life. So this Medusologist is about to become your favorite Medusologist. So get ready to deep dive on everything from mouths to butts to peeing on yourself, to pool noodles, freshwater jelly, polyps, really tentacles, and more. With the world's most charming Medusologist, Dr. Rebecca Helm. I don't know Jack's about Jellyfish, so I'm blank canvas over here. I'm kidding. You're gonna tell me everything. Okay. And so tell me what is a Jellyfish exactly? So a Jellyfish is the last step in this complex life cycle of animals that collectively we could call Medusa Zooans. Medusa Zooans. Medusa, like, you know, Lady with the crazy snake hair, and then Zoa, because they're animals. So, you know, we got these Medusa Zooa, and they have this three-part life cycle, which is honestly why I love them so much. I mean, what are many reasons? But one of my favorite reasons is that they look like three totally different animals that different parts of their life cycle. So the first part is called a planula, and it's just like this little, itty-bitty, green of sugar-sized swimming, fuzzy pill. It just looks like this little, kind of, moldy pill floating through the water, those little hairs sticking off of it. And it can live like that for a while, and that's just like the larva that forms. So those are the babies, and then what's stage two? Right. Stage two would be when they settle, and they form what's called a polyp. And it basically, in the case of a jelly, it looks like a jellyfish that got slipped upside down, and it's kind of stuck to the seafloor. It's got a little mouth and a little ring of tentacles around the mouth, and then it's got this little body column, right, and just sort of sticks to the seafloor. It's very small, like, a breadcrumb. The polyp is really the stage that lasts for like decades. So polyp can live a super long time. So it would be like, you know, human baby finds a nice place to settle down, you know, and it just, like, grows into, like, a person. Okay. Polyp's are really, like, that stage. They're, like, the persistent, long-lived stage. Okay, so a planula is the moldy, green pill looking teeny-daddy baby, and then they grow a little bit more, and then become these breadcrumb-sized polyps that look like side-show bob in a tube dress. But what are they doing on the seafloor? What are they doing? They might clone themselves. So they have some cool cloning tricks that they do where they, like, split themselves in half, like a little cell dividing. They can just split in half, or they can leave, like, little footprints of cells behind them. They crawl very fast, maybe, like, a step in every week. Really slow. Take your time. But every time they do, they leave a little footprint of cells, and those cells are, like, little polyps seeds, and they can actually hatch into new polyps at some dinner date. This is happening on the ocean floor, typically. It's all happening on the ocean floor. Wow. Typically, you're right. Typically, it's the perfect word, because biology is in love with exceptions. But typically, it's happening on the ocean floor. Oh my God. And then when do they decide that it's time to just grow up and get reproducing? Right. Well, so they, like, bud part of themselves off. Oh. So they bud the little reproductive part off. So some jellyfish will actually vision down the side of their bodies. So, like, you can sort of imagine, like, I don't know, wearing, like, hard pants and belts. It's probably going to look kind of similar for me when you're wearing a pants that are too tight, and you got, like, a little punch. They sort of look like that. Like, polyps get a little like punch. Oh my God. I mean, we are all literally falling in love with this person's brain right now, right? Like they're wearing a belt that's too tight. And then the top of that patch will, like, grow into a little jellyfish and pop off. No. And others, they'll bud little jellyfish off the side. And then what do those do? Right. And so this, they're the reproductive stage. That's what jellyfish are. Oh my God. Okay. So they're this, like, reproductive stage that, like, sails into the ocean and, like, reproduces. Unbelievable. And how are they functioning? Because they're transparent. You don't see any brains or stomachs. Like, how are they even pulling any of this off? Like, what do they even have in that little umbrella? I know. They're so inspiringly minimalist. They marie condoed all their organs. They did. Just none. None left. And they don't even have a butt. They just have one hole, right? So it's just like, we're just going to do everything using this one hole. So they've just got this, like, central, like, mouthiness, this main is in the middle. You know, and they'll take in food. And then they'll digest it in this big body cavity that sort of acts like, you know, a stomach, but it's also a circulatory system. Oh my God. Yeah. So they're just like, we don't need two things for this. This can be done together. And some of them have these, like, really long, frilly tendrils coming off the mouth. We call them oral arms. They sort of look like streamers, you know, they're very nice. Some jellies, anyway, have, like, inside tentacles. So you got, like, your outside tentacles. And then you might have these tentacle, like, gastric theory on the inside that are also covered in stinging cells. Oh. And they just kind of churn around. Do they breathe? They don't have lungs, but they do breathe. Most jellyfish breathe. Most jellyfish are they usually transparent? What kind of array are we talking aesthetically? Every color of the rainbow. All over the place. Okay. Yeah. They're white jellyfish, like moon jellyfish. They're kind of like opaquy, milky white, you know, we got some really like, not transparent, super white jellyfish. One of my favorite jellyfish in the whole world is called the barrel jellyfish. Okay. Just quick aside, the barrel jellyfish is a larger jelly. And it can grow to be two and a half meters across. It's got these eight frilly tentacles and a big mushroom helmet top. And it looks kind of like an oceanic version of the scrubbing bubble's commercial. And they are white with this bright blue ring around the side. Oh. So pretty. You're gorgeous. And then, you know, we've got purple, blue, red, red's pretty common, black. Sometimes you'll see black jellyfish. Black jellyfish. I didn't know they were black jellyfish. That sounds so goth. Gooi. So goth. They're deep sea, too. So they're like just like cold and dark and black. Aps, looked them up and they look like a jellyfish wearing a crushed velvet dark purple cape. Now, black jellyfish are also called black sea nettle or the sar-lack jellyfish. Yes. The sar-lack jellyfish. And no, you're not imagining that jellyfish names are just up there in taxonomy treasures with mushroom names in terms of zany creativity. And as long as we're here, let's just bloop through a very tiny sampling of jellyfish names. Now we're at jellyfish, blue, blubber, cauliflower jellyfish, the fried egg, which honestly looks like breakfast and a caramel flond had a baby. There's also the pink meany. Now why is there such variety? Why do some of them have really long colorful tentacles and some don't? Like are there different types of jellyfish? Yes. There are four types. Okay. Yep. Plus, minus types. You know, scientists, we fight. So we've got the box jellyfish, which is shaped like squares. And they've got like tentacles and four little corners. You do not want to get stung by one of those. I've heard bad things. Very bad. I mean, I love them. They're like really clever. They're great. So that's one group. And we've got the very poorly known, but very endearing star jellyfish or star zoons. And they're actually jellyfish that sit on the bottom all the time. They're stuck to the bottom. Stucked jellyfish. It's another word for them. They're really cute. like, you know, maybe size of your thumb, they don't really sting. They've got these really great little tentacle pom poms. So they're shaped like little wine glasses, but if wine glasses had little like pom poms on them. Oh, oh, what a switch, little sweeties. They're very cute. Yeah. I love them. And they do little summer salts too to get around. So they'll live on like a blade of seagrass, you know, and then think to themselves like, I want to be at the top of this blade of seagrass, they'll like bend over and like use their little pom poms to sort of stick to the blade of seagrass and they'll flip their little, their little stock over to the other side and kind of attach and just do that over and over again. Oh, they sound like I had a creation of Dr. Seuss. Yeah, I think they would be perfect. And then we've got our water jellyfish or hydrazones. Mm hmm. Biggest diversity of jellyfish, but they're all pretty small, like maybe, you know, your fingernail size, maybe bottle cap, and they're all pretty clear. Okay. So to recap those types so far, there's box jellyfish, stocked or star jellyfish and hydrazones. Now, I would also like you to know that a group of jellyfish is called a smack. You're welcome. Now, what about when we think of jellyfish, those flowing, vengeful, madusa locks that the rumming quiet majesty, the danger? And then the last group is called skyphazoa. And these are like your big charismatic aquarium jellyfish. Right? That guy a little like frilly arm parts, right? And have their little like tentacles out and there are lots of different colors. And these are the ones also that, you know, we'll ruin your beach vacation. They've got sort of two modes. They've got the frilly long tendrils coming off the mouth mode. So that's one group. And then the other group is this filter feeding group that has like a call of flower stuck to the back of them. Oh, what are they doing with that? So they're filtering out sea water. So they're like filter feeders are really very peaceful, beautiful filter feeders. And that big like call of flower looking thing is actually a complex of like a thousand little mouths that just suck in food from the water. Oh my God. What about brains? Do they have brains? They don't really have brains. How do they do anything? They're like cloud computers. So or really they think like a cloud computing system might where they've got these central regions of concentrated neurons at various points along the edge of their bowl or bell shaped body. So like right on that margin, you know, like every couple inches, they'll be this little spot and it's called a Repelia. And it has a little sort of very simple eyeball and a very simple sort of up, down where am I in the world sensory structure and then a little cluster of neurons. And so each one of those kind of takes in its little wedge of the world that it sees and reports back to every other one. And then collectively, they kind of all make decisions together. So but they are one single organism, right? Yes. Oh, yes. Yes. Yeah. But it would be sort of like if you had like a quarter of your brain on one hand, a quarter on the other quarter on one foot and a quarter on the other foot, right? And like no one was the boss. You know, everyone has equal say. But when one is like really screaming like there's food over here, we should go over here. Then everyone's like, I also love food. I'm going to go there as well. Yeah. So. And so when we see them in the ocean or in an aquarium, we are typically facing like them in their reproductive phase because that's when they're kind of the most attention getting. Yeah. Yeah. They're really, I mean, it's their sort of like flower phase. If we just want to throw around like a million different metaphors, right? Yeah. It's a very showy, attractive phase, very bizarre hypnotic phase. Can I ask you a Patreon questions? Yes. Of course. Okay. People have so many jollyfish questions. They're pumped. Okay. But before your questions, a few words from sponsors who make it possible to donate to a cause of theologist choosing. And this week, Dr. Jellyfish chose the Vancouver aquarium that donation was made possible by award approved sponsors of the show who you may hear about now. Okay. Your questions, lightning round. Here we go. I'm ready. Star. Simple question. I didn't ask. Glad they asked it. Is what is the clear part that looks like the top of a mushroom made out of? What is it? The technical term is called misoglia. Okay. It's it's kind of like cartilage. It's got a ton of collagen in there. It's just like lots of like cartilage and water. Wow. Wow. We learned a new thing. No cells. No real cells to speak of. There are a couple, you know, like maybe like their little wandering cells that kind of like float through the mesoglia or really they crawl because it's kind of kind of thick and jello-y, but it's mostly not cells. What how is how does it exist if it's not made of the things that a life things are made of? It's just got to do. It's got two layers of cells. And that's it. So it has like the outside layer. And then it's got the layer around it. It's stomach vascular system. Wow. And then all the middle stuff is just like cartilage. Wow. That is absolutely nuts. I didn't I would never have thought that that was all just, um, yeah, just goopy stuff made out of animal cells. Oh, that's crazy. Okay. Chelsea Primo wants to know, do jellyfish have any control over their lives? Are they like me and just at the mercy of the ebb and flow of the tides of life? I mean, yes. Yes. And no. I mean, I think we're all kind of in the same boat right now. Some some jellyfish like those box jellyfish, they can totally control where they're going. They've got a mission. They're on it. But that being said, like, it's not like they're really good swimmers. And so if the current season just like a little bit strong, then they're probably going to get swept away. Okay. This next question was asked by Stephanie Hancock, Lily Sakers, Roxanne Parker, Andrea Marsh, Melissa Hutton, first time question askers, Kristen C and Mercedes-Mateland and Adam Weaver, who says about this topic, can we talk about how weird it is for a minute? Now, let's talk about a lot of people have this question, which I had no idea this existed before I put this up on Patreon and ask for questions. What about fresh water jellyfish? What the? Who are they? Where do they live? How are they not salty? They're beautiful. They live all over. So these little buddies are called Craspita Kusta and that's sort of like the fancy science term. They are probably maybe we're not 100% certain, but you know, until more science is done, we'll say from around the Yang Sea region in China. And then at some point, like maybe a hundred, two hundred years ago, you know, someone was like, I really love, you know, this aquatic plant. I'm going to bring it back to Europe. And there was like a little jellyfish seed, Jeff got one of the plants, you know, from those little polyps when they leave their little footprints behind. And so that then grew into a polyp, which started making jellyfish and one pond. And then it seeds spread to other ponds. And so now they're like all over. So even in the US, they're in almost every state. And they love to live, you know, in like cool, calm water. And they can be transported between ponds like on shoes or kayaks or, you know, if a bird like steps out in jellyfish seed and then swims to another pond. Oh my God. You know, we'll usually show up for like a month or two, sort of at the end of the summer, beginning of the fall, at least for I live, like I saw some in of all places, Walden pond, like throws pond. Yeah. Okay. Just in a side, I looked us up and they were first spotted in September of 2010 and headlines in Boston papers read Walden pond invaded by jellyfish and mystery blooms on Walden pond. Now in one story, an aquarium representative was quoted as saying that the freshwater jellies were wickedly cool, which is the most 2010 Bostonian way to comment. Anyway, Rebecca describes the wicked, cool, nickel sized floating water backs. So we get to this pond. It was beautiful. Like all the leaves were turning. It was really cold. My friend who was with me was like carrying all my gear, right? I had like snorkeling gear. Like I had my little swimsuit and some like cool noodles. Cause I was like, I wouldn't need to stay afloat. And I don't want to have to swim to stay afloat. So I was like October in Massachusetts with like me, I felt like you're like floating on a pool noodle in the middle of a lake. And yeah, it was like no jellyfish, no jelly, no jellyfish. And then it was just jellyfish everywhere. Oh my God. How big a hot chocolate did you have after that? Huge, huge. I was so cold. Can you imagine? Oh, for jellyfish, for jellyfish. I mean, for jellyfish. Wow. So man, this woman loves jellyfish. And be abbot has a question from Lauren, who's nine and Clark, who's seven. They want to know if jellyfish poop. What's the deal? Well, they don't really have buts exactly. So so it's more like we call. This is not the official scientific term, but among my like jellyfish and scene, M&E friends, we call it throping because they kind of throw up poop but they do not die. - Just. - Oh no. - Yeah. So they threw out their mainness. - Is it, yeah, their mainness. Is it like a gelatinous also, or is it just like fish poop? - It's more like just leftover, like it would be like if you peeled a shrimp. - Okay, that makes sense. - Yeah. So it's not really like a pellet of poo, right? It's just sort of like if you peel the shrimp or if you, you know, like deboned a fish, right? That stuff just kind of comes out the mouth again. Ooh, that's one way to do it, man. - Yeah, so simple. - Y'all, they throw a poop from their mouth, Ainess. You snorted into this episode, not having any idea, you'd be walking a lap around the park or harvesting radishes in the backyard or filing paperwork, hearing the term, throoping out my mainness. And yet, is there anything more efficient, more aspirational than a mainness throop? Sounds clean and easy. Have you been stung? - Yes, yes. - Like a lot. - I think it's stung. Maybe half a dozen times. - How bad is it? - So it depends on the species. - Okay. - Like some species kind of tickle and they're kind of itchy. So like the moon jellyfish that I was stung by, it sort of felt like I was being like very mildly electrocuted. - Whoa. - Yeah. So like, I wouldn't like really put it on like the pleasant end of the spectrum, but it wasn't like terrible. Like it wasn't like, I'm never doing that again. Kind of a moment. It was just like, I'm gonna think harder about the next time I like touch a moon jellyfish. There are stinging nettles and they stink. I would not ever recommend grabbing a stinging nettle. And I totally made this mistake and it was so embarrassing. - Oh, my God. - I promise this looks really bad, but I know what I'm doing. But it bruised, it bruised for a while. I will say the third time I was stung, I was kayaking by myself. And afterwards I was like, you know, I've heard this p-thing and I just don't know if it's true, but I want to try it. And I can personally and professionally tell you it does not work. - Yep. Oh no, oh please. - That's a big time. - And it's even worse it's not really that effective. So they're just like, okay, well now I'm just like covered in p- and still hurts. - Just bad day at the office. - A little bit. - And now this is gonna be such a difficult question. What is your favorite thing about jellyfish? Do you even know? - You know, I love that no matter how much I know about jellyfish, I'm almost always surprised by something new every time I go to the ocean. So it's just like, there's constantly something weird or unusual or bizarre that you're just like, I didn't even think what's it doing, how's it happening, what, who, right? Like I love that. And you know, not a lot of people have studied jellyfish, right? Like there are certain things that if you're like, I really want to study this. It's like, well, okay, like you and 50,000 other people, right? Like I really want to study fruit flies. Well, there is like a lot of work done on fruit flies, which isn't to say that there's not new stuff to be done. There's always new stuff to be done. But you have to like, really dig deep. There's with jellyfish, you know, you just kind of look at it and you're like, I don't know what that is. Do you know what that is? No, no, no, that is either. Let's just study it. So that's awesome. I also, I feel like jellyfish are very much like my aspirational kind of like, like state of being. I'm so neurotic and they're just so, so chill. They are so soothing to look at. I wonder if they've ever done like human physiology test while looking at jellyfish, if like heart rate and respiration rate like slows. I will volunteer. (laughing) If you want to study, let me know. I will sign up because I feel you know, very like very calm by jellyfish. And I think, I don't know, I feel like a lot of people seem to get kind of like, well, well, zoned out. I hope you know, this has been one of the most delightful interviews I have ever done. I, you are amazing. This has been so much fun. Also, I have a friend who has been asking me for like a year. He's like, have you, have you reached out yet? Like, I think you should really go to allergies. And I'm like, I'm too scared 'cause I also listen to your podcast and it's like, this has been so fun. You are just amazing. I'm a huge fan. This has been so awesome. Oh my God. No, Jesus. So, ask smart people silly jelly questions because we're all just a bunch of talking, heaps of meat, nothing matters. Also, thank you to Rebecca's friend, science illustrator Julie Johnson, for urging her to tweet at me about being on the world owes you both a debt of gratitude, the world owes you both a debt of-- - Gelatitude. - And thank you for tuning in to Smologies. If you liked the show, tell your friends, tell your teachers, tell anyone who might need a good science podcast and likes learning. We like to keep things short around here. So to find us on social media, check out the links in the show notes. You can find all kinds of good stuff there, including all the credits. And huge thanks, of course, to producer and lead editor Sadie's Mateland of Mateland Audio and editor Jake Chafee for making sure that these find their way into your ears every week. And if you stick around to the very, very end, I give you a piece of advice and I cannot take credit for it. I mean, I could take credit for it if I wanted to lie to you, but I could never lie to you. So this is from a listener named Raina, who said, "My advice is to never stop flipping over rocks to look for bugs." And then a ladybug emoji. But I want to follow that up with advice from Daniel White, another listener who said, "If you flip rocks looking for snakes, pull the rock toward yourself. So there's a barrier between you and whatever is under said rock." So yeah, pull the rock toward you, they say, but don't roll it on your foot and get help if you need to. But yeah, take a look under a rock. Put the rock back for the critters, but you never know who's under there. Okay, bye-bye. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)