Optimal hash arrangement of tentacles in jellyfish.
At first glance, the trailing tentacles of a jellyfish appear to be randomly arranged. However, close examination of medusae has revealed that the arrangement and developmental order of the tentacles obey a mathematical rule. Here, we show that medusa jellyfish adopt the best strategy to achieve the most uniform distribution of a variable number of tentacles. The observed order of tentacles is a real-world example of an optimal hashing algorithm known as Fibonacci hashing in computer science.
Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan.
Takuya
T
Okabe
Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan.|Graduate School of Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan.|Marine Biosystems Research Center, Chiba University, Uchiura, Kamogawa, Chiba 299-5502, Japan.|Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY13210, USA.
Jin
J
Yoshimura
D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D037402:Hydrozoa / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008962:Models, Theoretical