Comments on: Sea squirts are totally sweet

Sea squirts are totally sweet

homunculus — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 21:58:32 -0800

Sea Squirt Regrows Entire Body from One Blood Vessel. Most famous as the creature that settles down and eats its own brain (though that is not exactly correct), it appears the humble sea squirt has spectacular regenerative abilities as well, thanks to regeneration niches packed with stem cells. All glory to the sea squirt!

By: homunculus

homunculus — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:08:01 -0800

Grow Your Own Limbs

By: lalochezia

lalochezia — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:31:06 -0800

Very dissapointed that the sea squirt merely remodels a ganglion or two. I've used that story in academia a lot. Then again, I don't need the metaphor. I can just say that my colleagues resemble a sea squirt colony.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:31:24 -0800

Jim, I can regenerate that body from one blood cell!

By: quin

quin — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:51:15 -0800

All glory to the sea squirt! Sure, you say that now. Where will you be in 20 years when we are all bowing before them? Are you some kind of squirt-sympathizer? Yeah, I know your type. All 'humans above all else' until the hammer comes down. I've got my eye on you. Squirt-lover. My new favorite pejorative, even if they have no idea what it means. [And this could have interesting repercussions.]

By: MrMustard

MrMustard — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:53:13 -0800

I for one welcome our new, etc, etc. Well, somebody was going to say it.

By: hincandenza

hincandenza — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:56:49 -0800

Wait till the OWI hears about this!

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:01:35 -0800

A lot of invertebrates can do this. Sponges are legendary for it, and starfish can do it, too. But the tunicates are chordates; that's why this is remarkable.

By: thecjm

thecjm — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:29:01 -0800

I spent a summer at Duke University's Marine Lab in the Outer Banks, and Sea Squirts made great waterguns. You pull 'em out of the tank, give 'em a tickle, and they fire! Then you pop 'em back in the tank to reload. If you'd been using them frequently the water would be pretty clear, but sometimes it'd be really green and gross. Well in that case maybe water isn't the right word.

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:45:18 -0800

The video isn't working for me. Does it actually show the sea squirt regenerating? If so, I'm bummed.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:51:19 -0800

Sure, you say that now. Where will you be in 20 years when we are all bowing before them? The recent discovery in Antarctica of an unholy alliance between the sea squirts and the psychedelic octopus prooves that the squirts are minions of the Elder Gods. I hope to be eaten first!

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:37:14 -0800

Great post homunculus. Your last link to the Howard Hallis strip was pure gold. I want to be eaten last. Sticking around to watch the entire world destroyed by evil creatures from beyond Hell sounds like a great way to spend my last afternoon on Earth.