The Mejreno Team for Expedition and Adventure is a non-profit organisation based in Dubai U.A.E. founded by Sultan Bin Al Sheikh Mejren. The team's objectives is to explore the world’s last frontiers and allow the general public to discover these amazing adventures and appreciate the planet’s incredible diversity and fragile equilibrium, to deliver encouragement for the next generation, and honor and pride for the United Arab Emirates.


While exploring the underwater marine world around the Socotran Archipelago (12.47°N, 53.87°E, Republic of Yemen) located south of the Arabian Peninsula and east of the Horn of Africa in Somalia, the Mejreno Team discovered strange spheres on the bottom of the Indian Ocean. These marvels of nature intrigued the team and boggled scientists from around the world. Could this be a new species discovered in the waters surrounding what is commonly known as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean?

A literature research into the possible identity of this mysterious object pointed towards a group called Green 'Bubble'
Algae in the Chlorophyta Phylum. Among the many thousand species of green algae identified around the world, specialists have pointed towards the Ventricaria ventricosa (Olsen, J.L. & West, J.A., Ventricaria - Siphonocladales-Cladophorales complex, Chlorophyta - a new genus for Valonia ventricosa, 1988, Phycologia 27: 103-108), previously known as Valonia ventricosa (Agardh J., 1887) species for the Mejreno sample. Ventricaria ventricosa is commonly known as Sea Pearls, Sailor's-eye balls, or Bubble algae in English, Zeeparel in Dutch, Perle Marine in French or Meeresperle in German. The Mejreno Team however retains some doubt with regards to a definitive identification due to the green coloration and smaller size usually associated with the description of that species. Until further Mejreno Expeditions around Socotra, to collect live specimen of the Mejreno sample for further analysis and species determination, we can only look in amazement at this strange yet beautiful object.

The marine algae Ventricaria ventricosa is a single multinucleate cell and is anchored on coral substrate in tropical reef ecosystems. These algae present a near spherical coenocytic construction and are extraordinarily large, with some up to 10 centimeters in diameter. The green algae is the most diverse group of algae with over 7'000 described species around the world. It is a paraphyletic group excluding the Plantae, and hence should not be considered as a formal taxonomic group. Ventricaria ventricosa is a widely distributed species (refer to Algaebase’s distribution list http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=1401).

Despite numerous dives in the archipelago, these quicksilver orbs have been found in a single site near the island of Abd Al Kuri. They seem to occur at depth between 15 to 30+ meters, and are found either as isolated specimen reaching up to 10-12 centimeters in diameter, or in agglomerations of 2 to 8 smaller orbs. Both their aspect, metallic blue coloration with a quicksilver texture, and their large sizes are in sharp contrast to the usually green coloration and smaller dimensions associated with Ventricaria ventricosa. The strange quicksilver texture observed on the Mejreno specimen could also just be the result of an optical effect derived from the parallel arrangement of the cellulose micro-fibrils in the vesicle's wall and the near crystalline state of the cellulose.



In 2008, the Socotra Archipelago has been listed by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Natural Sites (WHNS). Several environmental organisations had already recognised the importance of Socotra's biodiversity with its unique natural and cultural values: the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a Biodiversity Hotspot (Horn of Africa) by Conservation International, as a Global 200 Ecoregion (Gulf of Aden) by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as an Endemic Bird Area by Birdlife International, and as a Center of Plant Diversity by Plantlife International.

Biogeographical studies of the coral reef communities of the Socotra Archipelago (Kemp JM, Extensive coral reef communities of the Socotra Archipelago, Gulf of Aden, Coral Reefs, 1997, 16: 214 / Kemp JM, Zoogeography of the coral reef fishes of the Socotra Archipelago, Journal of Biogeography, 1998, 25: 919–933) have shown that many species are widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea. The diverse habitats of the archipelago also constitute an important refuge for closely related species from the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The same studies concluded that this southern Arabian region might also be an extension of the upwelling region of Oman, characterized by a distinct species composition and a pronounced degree of endemism (Sheppard CRC & Salm RV, Reef and coral communities of Oman, with the description of a new coral species, Journal of Natural History, 1988, 22: 263–279 / Randall JE & Hoover JP, Scarus zhufar, a new species of parrotfish from southern Oman, with comments on endemism of the area, Copeia, 1995: 683–688). The exceptional biodiversity found on these islands includes many endemic species of fauna and flora: 37% of the 825 plant species, 90% of the 34 species of reptiles, and 95% of the 96 species of land snails. Considering this high degree of endemism on land, we could theorise that the marine life surrounding the archipelago could potentially also hold a higher degree of endemism.


Whatever the end of the Mejreno discovery story, these spheres have aroused more emotions in the general public's eyes than any other green algae ever has before. A real wonder of nature for a single-celled organism, and another example of the unique ecosystem of Socotra. Sultan Bin Al Sheikh Mejren has named these mysterious quicksilver orbs Mejreno until such time as this algae species has been formally described or identified. In the meanwhile, from a scientific perspective, these specimen should be recognised as Ventricaria cf. ventricosa, in recognition of their unique and to date undescribed features.