This is something fascinating I stumbled upon today, figured it was worth to share.
As you probably know, all animals need oxygen to survive. All, except one that is! Turns out there is one little fucker out there that can do with out it.
Meet Henneguya zschokkei, an endoparasite that afflicts several salmon species in the genera Oncorhynchus.
This is how it looks like
Yeah it's those small white lumps. Actually, that's a sack containing a bunch of them.
I know, it doesn't look like much but so far it's the only multicellular organism in the animalia kingdom that does not require oxygen to survive... At least that we know off.
Another interesting fact about these critters is that they lack both mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA. They also lack nervous, epithelial, gut and muscle cells. They are as basic as an animal can be.
They belong to the Myxosporea class of animals, which is distantly related to jellyfish, sea anemone and corals.
They are so unique that the current hypothesis is... that they originate from cancerous growths that escaped the parent organism and became a separate species:
One hypothesis put forward to explain the highly unusual habit of H. zschokkei and its fellow myxosporeans invokes the cancers of cnidarians. On this explanation, animals such as H. zschokkei were originally cancerous growths in free-swimming jellyfish that escaped their parent organism, thereafter becoming a separate species that parasitized other animals. Such an origin is referred to as a SCANDAL, a loose acronym of the phrase speciated by cancer development in animals. source
Now, that is only a theory and it may sound far fetched to you...But there are plenty of viruses that they have pulled that trick so yeah.. Not so far fetched imo. Give it enough time and evolution leads to all kind of crazy things 😄
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You've done it again--sent me scurrying to read more. First of all, this is a disgusting organism (I know, that's not a very scientific observation). Then, the fact that it might have been a cancer cell that separated and became independent of the parent...wow. Except, it got me thinking about how we all got here. As you say, give evolution enough time and strange things happen. Early earth had no oxygen--organisms breathed something else, maybe arsenic. Henneguya zschokkei is just another stage in an unfolding drama...
Thanks for a great read (yours and the ones you sent me to 😄)
Out of all things.. arsenic 😄😂☣️
Oxygen is fer da weak man. #lolz !INDEED !WEIRD !BBH
Exactly 😂
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I wonder if you indirectly mean that PEPE frogs don't require oxygen. 🤔🤯🐸😅 !INDEED !DIY
Wasn't a thought, but Pepe the frog memes do not require oxygen. !BBH !DIY !DOOK
Maybe you also mean that PEPE frogs don't require food and water either (though they occasionally still !love consuming them). 🤔🐸🤯😅 !LOLZ !DIY
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!DIYSTATSThat's very fascinating.
I wouldn't have believed if someone told me that there is an animal that doesn't need oxyigen to live.
I know that there are a few living organisms on Earth that don't need oxygen to operate, but this Henneguy shakalakamaka is actually part of our animal kingdom (even if it is very small).
!BBH
😄😂
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Thanks 😁
Now that is truly fascinating! An escaped free living cancer that can infect other organisms as a parasite. Pretty damn cool! The lack of mitochondria could possibly explain the lack of need for oxygen. Any idea what metabolic pathway it uses instead?
!PIMP
No.. Lol 😄😄😄😄
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Oxygen is essential for every animal and human without which it is impossible to live. Your research is interesting.
Those basic bitches. No mitochondria? Fucking failures.
Those are some weird things but I hope it doesn't affect us. It's weird to see how evolution can changes things for the better or for the worst.
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I've added a new knowledge today, thank you for sharing!
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interesting...who knows in the future if they can extract that ability and implant it into a human