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Starlet sea anemone12/11/2022 ![]() They suffered other more subtle changes, too. Pollutant-exposed anemones, the researchers found, have fewer tentacles with which to catch food. The team’s investigations revealed a range of other effects. ![]() These observations motivated the researchers to further examine the anemones’ development, says Klein, who is now a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. ![]() But the anemones living in polluted water weren’t eating. “You can actually see whether they’re eating or not,” says Klein. Juvenile anemones’ bodies are transparent, and they eat orange brine shrimp. Within weeks, Klein began noticing differences. Klein also raised a cohort in clean salt water as a control group. #Starlet sea anemone fullThey look like “a tube with a bunch of spaghetti at the top,” according to Sylvia Klein, one of the study’s authors.Īt MBL, Klein tended to plates full of anemone embryos that had been exposed to potassium nitrate and dioctyl phthalate at levels comparable to those present in nearby salt marshes. Native to salt marshes on North America’s Atlantic coast, starlet sea anemones aren’t much bigger than a grain of rice. Perhaps most strikingly, their study showed that all of these consequences can afflict one organism: the starlet sea anemone. In laboratory tests, Echeverri and her colleagues showed these pollutants can affect everything from an animal’s overall body development to the makeup of its microbiome. These pollutants can also be devastating for aquatic animals.Ī new study led by biologist Karen Echeverri at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, demonstrates just how extensive the damage from nitrate and phthalate exposure can be. Phthalates, meanwhile, are potentially linked to kidney, liver, and reproductive problems in humans. In infants, this can lead to a condition known as blue baby syndrome. When someone ingests nitrate, for example, it can be converted by the body into nitrite, which interferes with the blood’s ability to transport oxygen. It’s no secret that the common pollutants nitrate (from fertilizer) and phthalates (from plastic) can harm a variety of organisms, including people. ![]() Ma| 600 words, about 3 minutes Share this article Photo by Nature Photographers Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo The Anemone in the Coal Mine The starlet sea anemone shows just how extensive the effects of common pollutants can be. From development issues to a reduced ability to heal, the starlet sea anemone can suffer a wide range of deleterious effects when exposed to realistic concentrations of common pollutants. ![]()
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