>> These passengers, it seems, act as the infectious agents, waiting to infiltrate the gills or intestines of a fish that swallows them. The sailors, meanwhile, do the hard work of moving the blob through the water—but in [sic, doing so] sacrifice their own opportunities to reproduce.
That's fascinating! Dr. Ian Malcolm, your quote forever echoes.
A definite scientist advanced in marine biology, just employed in a different laboratory profession so technically not an "actual marine biology professional".
>in his lab, Adameyko would like to learn more
>“These are our night science projects, because we want to have fun in the lab,” he says. “The idea is that there are no limits. And if you want to do something cool, you can.”
Careful, having an attitude like that can impart an unfair advantage so strong that it can draw some blowback from many so-called "serious professional" environments.
For the first time in a lot of time, they used the term mind-boggling accurately. I had never ever seen something like this before in a digenean.
So why don’t the one species die out? When do they reproduce?
The "Kin Selection" thing is fairly common in insects.
Most workers and soldiers in hives are sterile females (so when those white-faced hornets swarm your ass, it's "Hell hath no fury" in action).
It's like a Trojan Horse (the weapon of war) and. Trojan Horse (the malware) both in one
Parasitic crustaceans: https://bogleech.com/bio-paracrust
Parasitic jellyfish: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/when-jell...
Another parasitic jellyfish (its larva develops inside-out, then turns itself outside-in when it bursts out of its host!): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypodium_hydriforme