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Ctenophores: Wonders of Biology (https://www.quantamagazine.org)

62 points by randomImmigrant 3 days ago | 11 comments | View on ycombinator

mmooss about 2 hours ago |

The images and video clips are amazingly well done. It's so rare the serious publications take full advantage of the medium of a web page.

mmooss about 2 hours ago |

> Comb jellies are ancient marine predators whose hairlike extensions known as cilia refract light as they swim, giving them an iridescent shimmer. They are the largest animals known to use cilia for movement, ...

I've long wondered: What is the difference between cilia and flagella? I've found no authoritative source that differentiates them or that says they are the same (except one paper from decades ago that strongly implies they are the same). It seems like something insiders know implicitly and never bother explaining.

Because a clear distinction is lacking, I don't trust non-expert sources like Wikipedia to be consistent, tor to not confuse them or miss any nuance.

Nursie about 12 hours ago |

Mysterious and interesting things, first read about them after going scuba diving and seeing a few of there barely-there diaphanous whisps of creatures, with rippling iridescent spines up their sides.

Amazing to learn they were cilia refracting the light, not chemical bioluminescence, and that despite appearances they are absolutely not jellyfish!

bediger4000 3 days ago |

Steven Haddock, a marine biologist who studies ctenophores

Interesting case of nominative determinism.