Mysterious 'Blobs' Near Norway Are Full of Squid Mucus and Embryos, Study Finds
Anti-aristarchus writes:
Live Science has an article on large balls of mucus, a subject of much interest to Soylentils:
Several years ago, divers exploring the western coast of Norway encountered an object they couldn't explain: An enormous, jelly-like orb, more than 3 feet (1 meter) wide, was hovering in place partway between the seafloor and the surface. A dark streak cut through the center of the orb, but the object was otherwise translucent and totally featureless.
It was, simply put, a perfectly inscrutable blob.
Nearly 100 similar blob sightings have been reported around Norway and the Mediterranean Sea since 1985, but the mysterious gelatinous masses have always evaded classification. Now, thanks to a year-long citizen science campaign and a new DNA analysis, researchers have finally identified the blobs as the rarely-seen egg sacs of a common squid called Illex coindetii.
Yes, classification evasion, that is what it is all about.
According to a new study, published March 30 in the journal Scientific Reports, each blob may contain hundreds of thousands of teensy squid eggs, encased in a bubble of slowly disintegrating mucus. Remarkably, while scientists have known about I. coindetii for more than 180 years and have observed the species widely around the Mediterranean and both sides of the Atlantic, this is the first time they have identified the squid's egg sacs in the wild, the researchers wrote.
"We also got to see what's inside the actual sphere, showing squid embryos at four different stages," lead study author Halldis Ringvold, manager of the marine zoology organization Sea Snack Norway, told Live Science. "In addition, we could follow how the sphere actually changes consistency - from firm and transparent to rupturing and opaque - as the embryos develop."
Calamari, or Kraken, you decide!
Journal Reference:
Halldis Ringvold, Morag Taite, A. Louise Allcock, et al. In situ recordings of large gelatinous spheres from NE Atlantic, and the first genetic confirmation of egg mass of Illex coindetii (Verany, 1839) (Cephalopoda, Mollusca) [open], Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86164-8)
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