Sea spiders are capable of regenerating part of their body

Pantopods (or pycnogenids) – a spider-like marine species commonly called “sea spiders” for that reason – have the ability to regenerate part of their body, not just limbs, according to a new study published today.

“No one expected this,” said Gerhard Scholz of Berlin’s Humboldt University, one of the lead authors of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “We are the first to prove that this is possible,” he emphasizes.

It is known that in case of amputation, some arthropods (e.g. centipedes, spiders, etc.) can regenerate their limbs.

In experiments done on pantopods, researchers discovered that they are capable of regenerating additional body parts. For the purpose of the study, the scientists removed different limbs and tail parts of 23 young and adult pantopods.

Although no regeneration of an excised part was observed in adult specimens, some were alive after two years. In contrast, the younger ones showed “complete or almost complete” regeneration of the removed parts, including muscles and genitals.

In the long term, 90% of the pantopods subjected to these experiments survived, the study says.

According to Gerhard Scholtz, the findings of the study open new horizons in scientific research. “Many different species can be tested,” he says, in order to make comparisons between regeneration mechanisms, expressing the hope that these mechanisms can contribute to the development of treatments for human amputees.

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