This is odd. Brittle stars latch on to jellyfish and roam the seas with them? It may be a dispersal or a feeding strategy, but I’m just going to pretend it’s wanderlust.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
So, once again, the Bible® skipped some interesting stuff.
Lyft for brittle stars.
I was expecting rhemoras. Very nice surprise.
The mildly deranged penguin says the Jellyfishys are jealous of the Nautilus. Failing to grow a groovy shell, they collect seemingly-interlocking parts with the intention of fitting them together like tiles in a MC Escher woodcut, to form a covering.
If the Jellyfishys collect too much, they become top-heavy, frequently flipping over and going tentacles-up. This is not a sustainable posture, and the only hope for the poor Jellyfishy is its thrashing about knocks sufficient shell-parts off so it’s no longer too top-heavy and self-rights before it becomes too exhausted. When this happens near the surface, the thrashing tentacles can be seen waving about in the air. That is said to have been mistaken for a mermaid’s seductive gesturing by desperate becalmed sailors of old, leading to a number of very surprised Brittle Stars…
How do they even get on the jelly? O_O
They’re not very good hitch-hikers! I see no evidence of towels whatsoever!
Now I want a children’s fantasy book about the adventures of a group of brittle stars who ride around the ocean on a jellyfish. Vertebrates are vastly over-represented as children’s book characters, and we can teach children about all the different animals that live under the sea.
I came here to link this picture, and this seems an appropriate post to leave it on.
http://animals-riding-animals.tumblr.com/post/157863961931/octopus-riding-turtle