Caribbean jellyfish have no brains, but they can learn quickly and retain information. It was previously thought that organisms without a central nervous system could not do this.
What Caribbean jellyfish can learn is clear from new research published in the journal on Friday Current biology.
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and the University of Kiel (Germany) were “pretty sure that these animals can learn.” It is important for jellyfish to avoid mangrove branches, for example, in order to survive. But the researchers were surprised by how quickly they learned.
To test their learning ability, the researchers placed gray and white lines inside a circular aquarium. These lines represent mangrove branches.
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What happened? For the first few minutes, a Caribbean box jellyfish swam inside the tank, but that changed within five minutes. They stayed further away and turned faster.
Because of the collisions and because the jellyfish sees the lines coming towards it, it remembers where the lines are. This also lets them know that they can avoid it next time.
According to scientists, the research shows that jellyfish species are capable of learning, and they do not need a brain to do so. It is still not clear exactly how memories of objects arise and how they are preserved. They also have not yet discovered how jellyfish can sense collisions.
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04 aug 2023 om 18:04
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