Scientists have solved the mystery of the jelly balls off the coast of Norway
Scientists have uncovered the nature of the mysterious translucent jelly-like balls found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on the western coast of Norway. The research results were published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
The existence of such balls has been known for over a hundred years, but their nature has remained a mystery to this day. A group of scientists decided to investigate them in 2019 – they took a sample of the ball's tissues and performed a DNA analysis.
It turned out that the balls are a capsule in which the Illex coindetii squid reproduce. Mollusks of this species reach up to 30 centimeters in length, and females create balls of their own mucus, which exceed their size several times. After that, they lay eggs in the spheres. By the time the little squids hatch, the balls disintegrate by themselves.
Scientists note that such a birth mechanism is of great interest for science – such clusters ensure the safety of the development of the embryo at all levels of development.
Earlier it became known that a fossil of an ancient vampire squid was found in Hungary.
