[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Freaky Fana Friday, where every Friday we take a little time, explore some of the freaks of nature from around the planet.
[SPEAKER_00]: We cherish so deeply, so please jump aboard and let's explore the wilds together.
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to Freaky Fana Friday.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm the great and peaceful mystery, and I'm Jay.
[SPEAKER_01]: And today we're going to talk about sea squirts.
[SPEAKER_02]: Sea squirts.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I know.
[SPEAKER_02]: The aren't those like sea cucumbers?
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
[SPEAKER_02]: No, they're not.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sea squirts scientifically known as tuna bricks or tuna kates.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, tuna kates.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: Our fascinating marine invertebrates that play a vital role in ocean ecosystems.
[SPEAKER_01]: They belong to the sub-fileum Unicorn Dates.
[SPEAKER_01]: These organisms exhibit unique blend of simple or simplicity and complexity.
[SPEAKER_01]: Making them a subject of interest from marine biologist in ecologist alike.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're going to dive into their behaviors, exploring the castifications, physical characteristics, and having that in all that goodness.
[SPEAKER_02]: Alright.
[SPEAKER_01]: The C-squirts are classified within the fly-itum, coordinate.
[SPEAKER_01]: Making them relatives, too.
[SPEAKER_01]: Remember what's what's a chord eight chord eight ah gosh a fish Oh, they can yeah, so Relatives of vertebrates.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: Coredado why don't you look at a picture of a C-squirt and think of as a relative to a vertebrate Okay, C-squirt.
[SPEAKER_02]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_01]: Say they're odd.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean there's millions of them
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, C-squared.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, they look like, uh, oh, you're saying what what these would be related to.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, no, I told you they're related to vertebrates vertebrates.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: Mammals birds and fish.
[SPEAKER_01]: These are.
[SPEAKER_01]: Mm-hmm.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, no, no, these are not mammals.
[SPEAKER_01]: They are in the coordinate-fant-like group.
[SPEAKER_01]: File them.
[SPEAKER_01]: How?
[SPEAKER_01]: Isn't it weird?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, they don't look like, uh, they look like, uh, the term tunicate refers to the distinctive outer tunic, a leathery and genetic or gelatinous covering that protects our soft bodies.
[SPEAKER_01]: They are categorized into three main classifications, but the most common one is,
[SPEAKER_01]: a sinner cat are sorry us in a day Sierra and was common group consisting of seashells he squirts attached to various substrates okay these are ones that fuse to the bottom right tell us alia which are free swimming sea squirts that exhibit more complex lifestyles and even form joint colonies oh in larvasinia small free swimming ones that retain larval characteristics throughout the
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, so there's like ones that just grab on the bottoms ones that are I guess hanging out together in a colony and then free float in single little tiny ones.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, this e-squared or exo a remarkable range of physical characteristics generally possess a sack like a body that can vary significantly in shape and size.
[SPEAKER_01]: Most e-squirts range from a few millimetres to even several inches in length, their bodies are composed of two ciphons, an inhaling ciphon, which straws in water in an exhalant ciphon, which excels water.
[SPEAKER_01]: The outer tunic is typically composed of a cellulose-like structure, providing protection and structural integrity.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so that's how it gets it's a structure, I guess.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's almost like a, it's weird, it's almost like a shell, but it's not really like a shell around a gelatinous body, but it's a gelatinous shell, too, kind of.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, there's not that stiff internally.
[SPEAKER_01]: See, squirts have a simple digestive system and pose a, sorry, a note cord during their larval stage, which is the fine feature of core dates.
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the defined feature.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's weird.
[SPEAKER_01]: Even though they look like a lot of other stuff, they have like a basically a simple spine that's in their larval state.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not really a spine.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just the best way.
[SPEAKER_02]: Best thing you could describe it as.
[SPEAKER_01]: While adult sea squirts lose their note to court, their larval forms exhibit characteristics at closer resemble primitive vertebrates providing
[SPEAKER_01]: OK, the sea squirts are primarily found in marine environments inhabiting a wide range of habitats such as shallow coastal waters to deep sea environments.
[SPEAKER_01]: They are found a rocky subject, coral reefs, and even within marine substrates.
[SPEAKER_01]: The adaptability of sea squirts allows them to thrive into various salinity levels and temperatures, making them prevalent in every ocean worldwide.
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you a logger field, uh, I can't talk geography.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: You a lot and say that, but What you had ever geography.
[SPEAKER_02]: Do y'all what are you now?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm done with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: See squirts have a global distribution.
[SPEAKER_02]: There you go.
[SPEAKER_01]: With significant population and temperate tropical and polar regions, their presence particularly noted in areas with extremely rich nutrients.
[SPEAKER_01]: They can filter large volumes of water for feeding.
[SPEAKER_01]: Secrets are primarily sassal as adults.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're premium.
[SPEAKER_01]: What?
[SPEAKER_01]: Meaning they attach themselves to surfaces and remade sedimentary.
[SPEAKER_02]: OK.
[SPEAKER_01]: This behavior is crucial for their feeding strategy as they filter plankton and other organic matter from the water.
[SPEAKER_01]: Despite their sedimentary lifestyle, she's critiqued exhibit fastening behaviors during their larval stage.
[SPEAKER_01]: Larva are free swimming and display remarkable ability to navigate their surroundings utilizing their tail for propulsion.
[SPEAKER_01]: Once a larva settles down and matures into adult, they undergo a significant transformation.
[SPEAKER_01]: They shift from the motel larva to a cessol adult in one of the most striking features of their life cycle.
[SPEAKER_01]: Adult sea squirts can also exhibit some responsiveness to their environment, retracting their siphons and response to disturbances in change and water quality.
[SPEAKER_02]: So sensitive.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, did you already say how, can you keep these in captivity?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think so.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like a couple inches long, most of them.
[SPEAKER_01]: That'd be kind of cool.
[SPEAKER_01]: See squirts are filter feeders.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I eat pretty much everything with their syphines, trap particles such as plankton, zoo plank, do organic matter, and so on.
[SPEAKER_01]: After filtering the water, they expel it through their exit syphine.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so they're good filter feeders.
[SPEAKER_02]: So here's another, now we need to find the atmospheric C-squared.
[SPEAKER_01]: Reproduction in C-squared can occur about sexually and asexually depending on the species in their environmental conditions.
[SPEAKER_01]: In sexual reproduction, most species are hermaphroditic, thus in both male and female reproductive organs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Fortilizing generally occurs externally when eggs and sperm release into the surrounding water at the same time.
[SPEAKER_01]: After fertilization, the eggs develop into a free swimming larva, which eventually sells down and substrate undergoes men of war physicists into an adult sea squirt.
[SPEAKER_01]: A-sexual reproduction is also common among certain species, with budding and fragmentation allowing that a rapidly established of new individuals.
[SPEAKER_01]: The lifespan of sea squirts vary significantly.
[SPEAKER_01]: Some species only live a few months, as others can survive for several years in our optimal conditions.
[SPEAKER_02]: Wow.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Despite their protective tunic, C-squirts faced numerous threats from both natural and anthropomorphic sources.
[SPEAKER_01]: Predators include various marine organisms, just fish, C-stars, and other and some invertebrates, which feed on them, additionally environmental changes, pollution, and have that destruction poses significant threats to their populations.
[SPEAKER_01]: Invasive species also greatly impact C-squirt populations, by out-competing them for some resources, or directly praying upon them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Other things like climate change, particularly ocean acidification events, and raising temperatures in some locations, potentially disturbed the delicate balance of these marine and ecosystems, causing the ski squirts to abandon their homes, causing new trovocation events.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right, yeah, darn.
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, the concentration status is equal to varies by species in region.
[SPEAKER_01]: While some sea squirts are extremely abundant, not currently threatened, others are on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss, pop our pipe pollution and overfishing by deep sea dredging.
[SPEAKER_01]: Trawling, I mean, concentration episodes are essential to monitor and protect habitats, particularly in regions with a high human activity, uh, is intensifying.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you wonder for their fun facts?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm ready.
[SPEAKER_01]: Evolutionary significance.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sea squirts are considered to be among the closest living relatives to vertebrates, writing valuable insights to evolutionary complexity of life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Regenative abilities.
[SPEAKER_01]: Some sea squirts have demonstrated remarkable drainative capabilities, allowing them to recover from injuries or even damage being ripped in half.
[SPEAKER_01]: Color variations.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sea squirts exhibit a stunning array of colors, ranging from bright orange and yellow to muted greens and browns and even looking like skeletons and pandas.
[SPEAKER_02]: So they would look cool and aquarium.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Bioluminescence, certain species of C-square exhibit extreme bioluminescence, producing light and response environmental stimuli, which may serve as defense mechanisms against predators.
[SPEAKER_01]: Their filter feeding efficiency is incredible.
[SPEAKER_01]: The sea squirts can filter extremely large amounts of volume.
[SPEAKER_01]: Our volumes of water.
[SPEAKER_01]: Is this an up to 2,000 liters per day?
[SPEAKER_01]: Dang.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're doing work.
[SPEAKER_01]: Making them the most highly efficient filter feeding organism in the marine ecosystem.
[SPEAKER_02]: Wow, that's pretty cool.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, keep my in this thing as like the size.
[SPEAKER_02]: What your thumb?
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: I, uh, huh.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's really interesting.
[SPEAKER_02]: I wonder if we could like use their anatomy or something to build water pumps or something
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, if the water was like, if you didn't kill them all, they would just be there and clean the water for you.
[SPEAKER_02]: That would be awesome.
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, so you're saying we need sea squirts in that when we fill the dry mode, we got to fill it with sea squirts, keep the water clean.
[SPEAKER_01]: There we go.
[SPEAKER_01]: Two-knit composition.
[SPEAKER_01]: There are two-knicks of sea squirt containing extremely unique materials called Tunisian.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tunisian, which is similar to Stellagos in plants, and is being studied
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're weird biologically.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's like they, it's like they're on the outskirts of whatever box they're supposed to fit in.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's what evolutionarily speaking, I would say they're extremely basal, okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: The way way way way back.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not simple.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're just they're close to the the branching of the tree of life.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because they're holding on to some characteristics of several, they're in vertebrates.
[SPEAKER_01]: But holding on to them more closer related to vertebrates.
[SPEAKER_02]: than any other way you said I think they are in vertebrates okay but they are more close to related to not true invertebrates they are core dates so they're not true invertebrates are true vertebrates they're not either okay but they are more close related to things with a spine okay they're closely related to vertebrates but they're not quite there yeah okay because they're born with a spine kind of kind of a spinal cord yeah yeah and then they uh once
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and then they have cellulose-like structures in their tunics.
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, which is a plant thing.
[SPEAKER_02]: Right, yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: I wish we could use more.
[SPEAKER_02]: We need to use the word tunic more.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not described enough for your clothing or your garments.
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't nobody wears them anymore.
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, what I mean, what specifically is a tunic?
[SPEAKER_02]: I just thought it was just a clothing item.
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought it was a cape.
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know either.
[SPEAKER_01]: But any questions about sea squirts?
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, there.
[SPEAKER_02]: It reminded me of something I looked it up.
[SPEAKER_02]: The called Sea Pineapples.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's like a Japanese or a hair.
[SPEAKER_02]: It says Japanese and Korean delicacy.
[SPEAKER_02]: But it's a it's a sea squirt.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a sea squirt.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's a edible sea squirt known for its unique acquired taste that combines Sweet sour salty bitter and umami flavors all in one and it's typically eaten raw as sushi me.
[SPEAKER_02]: I knew that you'd make that face Often when vinegar soy sauce, which that's most sushi me, which is raw fish
[SPEAKER_02]: But it can also be grilled or deep fried in his prize for his rich nutritional content, including iron zinc and touring.
[SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, I've seen the, I remember seeing these, I didn't, I didn't know exactly what they were put.
[SPEAKER_02]: So when I googled it, they are a sea squirt.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I thought that was pretty interesting.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure you've seen them before, maybe like on like like the Andrew Zimmer when he eats the weird food.
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe jelly balls are a C-squirt too because that's what a jelly ball looks like.
[SPEAKER_02]: Ooh, yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's the new country are just coming out next.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jelly ball?
[SPEAKER_02]: Jelly ball.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_02]: They're going to keep rotating.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, so hopefully you enjoyed C-squirts.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's not that not what I thought of coming up at the beginning.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was also going to guess the little the turtle from finding Nemo Squirt in that his name.
[SPEAKER_02]: Is that his name?
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it is square.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, maybe that was the Little baby octopus or something.
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't remember now.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was thinking, no, that thought he called his son squirt.
[SPEAKER_02]: A squirt.
[SPEAKER_02]: Remember?
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying to remember.
[SPEAKER_02]: I know.
[SPEAKER_02]: I want brain fog.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I've been the Great and Peaceful Mystery, and I've been Jay.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll catch next week, guys.
[SPEAKER_01]: Bye!