A new study detailed how a siphonophore called Nanomia bijuga use a group-work method seemingly too advanced for such tiny organisms without a brain.
According to NBC News, Nanomia is a predator plankton that moves around and operates as a group. The new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, showed the organisms using a sophisticated jet propulsion system for traveling in tandem.
"This is a highly efficient system in which no developmental stage is wasted," study lead author John H. Costello, an adjunct scientist and Whitman Center investigator at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Mass., said in a press release. "It's a quite sophisticated design, for what would seem like a simple arrangement."
The zooids examined for the research were observed placing younger members of the colony toward the front because they were smaller and more suited to steer the group, NBC News noted. The older members were larger and stronger, but not quite as nimble, making them more suited to power the colony's motion. In the very back of the colony are members who breed new ones.
"The young members have what we call a long lever arm," Costello said in the release. "They are like the handle of a door. If you push on a door near its hinges-its axis of rotation-the door is hard to open. But if you push on the door handle, which is far from the axis of rotation, the door opens easily. A little force placed with a big lever arm has a big effect on turning.
"Just because the young ones are small, it doesn't mean they aren't important."
