Thread by @mmm_kid

@Mammals_Suck Tonight’s battle is one you won’t forget! My name is Elliot, I’m 10 years old and in the 4th grade. I live in North Carolina. I like telling stories. I also like the ocean and ocean creatures. #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck TONIGHT'S BATTLE IS FIREWORK JELLYFISH vs. BLUE SEA DRAGON!!
My older sister (6th grade) created the jellyfish & my little brother (2nd grade) traced and colored the blue glaucus!) #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Introducing the 1st combatant: a DAZZLING gelatinous zooplankton of the middle-depths: the Firework Jellyfish (Halitrephes maasi) (Corrales-Ugalde et al. 2017) #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles cambridge.org/core/journals/…

@Mammals_Suck This rare jellyfish has been sighted in oceans around world. At about 2 inches, the firework jellyfish was described as "entirely colorless" by a scientist named Henry B. Bigelow in 1909... #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles bit.ly/3Klr9bg

@Mammals_Suck But the most famous firework jelly was caught on video by scientists on the EVNautilus at 1225m deep near Baja California, Mexico. The lights from the ROV lighting it up like a fire creature!! #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Trachymedusae are predators. When they swim, small animals get caught up in the stinging tentacles, are drawn into the bell & then to the mouth. Mostly eat fast-swimming crustacean zooplankton (Sullivan and Kremer, 2011). #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles bit.ly/3HIKWQl

@Mammals_Suck The 2nd combatant is small but deadly. Don’t be fooled by its angelic appearance. This nudibranch will eat a Portuguese man o’ war for breakfast & lay eggs in the carcass.
The one, the only, BLUE SEA DRAGON (Glaucus atlanticus)
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles nmnh.typepad.com/no_bones/2015/…

@Mammals_Suck The Glaucus atlanticus is one of at least five species of this genus! It grows no bigger than 3cm (1.2in). It is found in temperate and tropical oceans. It floats on the ocean’s surface (Pinotti, Bom, and Muxagata 2019). #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles bit.ly/3vEQF7j

@Mammals_Suck The blue sea dragon has wing-like appendages called cerata. It uses countershading (a blue marbled underside and light silvery backside) to evade predation by birds from above, and fish and other sea creatures from below. #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles eol.org/pages/46451161…

@Mammals_Suck The blue dragon is an acrobat. It sucks in air to help flip it to float on its back. (Churchill, Valdés, & Foighil 2014) The blue sea dragon can flip and do somersaults, too!! #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles publish.csiro.au/is/IS13038

@Mammals_Suck The blue sea dragon kind of looks like a Pokemon. A biologist wrote a paper about how the blue sea dragon may have been the inspiration behind a video game character Holothurion, a giant demonic snail (Cavallari 2015).
Do you see a resemblance? #2022MMM
bit.ly/3IQxKdl

@Mammals_Suck Blue sea dragons are immune to jellyfish toxin. In fact, they eat jellyfish! Blue sea dragons store the jellyfish toxins in their cerata and skin. Blue sea dragons release stinging cells as a defense against predators! eol.org/pages/46451161… #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck This battle takes place in the Republic of Palau. In 2015 Palau made all of its oceans into a marine protected area, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary. onereef.org/where-we-work/…
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Indigenous Tobian (Hatohobei) and Sonsorolese people from the Southwest Islands of Palau have been leading efforts to preserve their cultural stewardship of their treasured natural marine resources, like Helen Reef. #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The combatants have been magically transported to Ngemelis Island in Palau, at the Blue Corner. Blue Corner is a popular diving spot 10 to 330m deep. #2022MMM geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pa… #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The sun shines brightly.
A strong breeze makes choppy waves on the surface.
Underwater it is crystal clear, warm, and salty.
The current is slow and gentle.
But at the Blue Corner, currents can change in minutes.

#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles canva.com/design/DAE58A6…

@Mammals_Suck The firework jellyfish is in new territory. It begins swimming, hoping something will drift through its tentacles and to its mouth. (Sullivan & Kremer 2011) bit.ly/3HIKWQl #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Meanwhile, the blue sea dragon is pretty relaxed. “Palau is nice.” #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The bright sunlight, so many big fishes and turtles, and the shifting currents aggravate the jellyfish. Also, the jellyfish’s translucent camouflage does not work very well up here (Larson et al. 1991). link.springer.com/article/10.100…
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Every disturbance causes the firework jellyfish to pulse in the opposite direction. It swims in zig zag patterns. It has a hard time going where it wants, because the current is growing stronger (Larson et al. 1991). link.springer.com/article/10.100…
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Firework Jellyfish: “This feels weird. I don’t like it here. I want to go back to the bottom.”

SWISH

“There’s too many disturbances here, way more than at the bottom of the ocean. Is something trying to eat me?”

#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck A school of barracuda rushes by. The firework jellyfish swims in the opposite direction, trying to go down and away from the sunlight (Larson 1991). link.springer.com/article/10.100…
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The firework jellyfish makes it to a deeper part of the Blue Corner…
where the sharks hang out!
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Just overhead, the lone blue sea dragon does a somersault. The blue sea dragon gulps another belly full of air and floats on the surface of the ocean. #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The firework jellyfish tries to swim deeper, but the current is too strong. The jellyfish is pushed back up over the reef into to brighter, warmer water and drifts along the sea wall. #2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck SPLASH!!

A gray backed tern (Onychoprion lunatus) dives into the ocean.

The impact forces the blue sea dragon under the water. The blue sea dragon tumbles in the bubbles.
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The blue sea dragon’s body grazes the bell of the jellyfish.
The blue sea dragon spreads its cerata.
The blue sea dragon tries to cling to the jellyfish.
The blue sea dragon prepares to sting and eat the firework jellyfish..
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles
eol.org/pages/46451161…

@Mammals_Suck SNAP!!!

A leatherback turtle nips at the jellyfish (Fontanes et al 2007). “Jellyfish are a tasty treat!”
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles
bit.ly/3hP7u7b

@Mammals_Suck The turtles impact knocks the combatants apart!
The jellyfish loses a tentacle.
The blue sea dragon bounces around in the jellyfish’s wake.
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck WHOOSH

A giant hump head wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus)
swims by.

The wrasse distracts the turtle, who starts chomping on a sea urchin (Fontanes et al. 2007).
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

bit.ly/3hP7u7b

@Mammals_Suck Firework jellyfish stings the blue sea dragon as it swims.
The blue sea dragon feels no pain
Finally, the jellyfish breaks free of the current & swims away from the sun, sinking down, down, down, to a quieter, darker place in the ocean (Larson 1991)
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck As the jellyfish sinks down, the blue sea dragon floats back to the surface.
The blue sea dragon flips itself into position, with the bright colors facing the sky.
(Pinotti, Bom, and Muxagata 2019).

#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

bit.ly/3vEQF7j

@Mammals_Suck BLUE SEA DRAGON OUTLASTS FIREWORK JELLY FISH ON THE "FIELD" OF BATTLE!!!
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck The blue sea dragon drifts alone for a while,
towards Australia.
Eventually, it bumps into another blue sea dragon,
and another,
and then another…
there are thousands of them!!!!
They are a blue fleet!!
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles

@Mammals_Suck Thank you Prof Katie for giving me this chance & helping me modify my battle to make it better.
<Fact Check: Katie did almost nothing>
Thanks to my mom for giving me tips & helping me find the information I needed for this battle.
THANK YOU!!!!!
#2022MMM #ExhibitionBattles #Sibs

@Mammals_Suck @threadreaderapp unroll please