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In a 2016 study, jelly from the sensory organs of sharks and skates showed room-temperature proton conductivity of 2 ± 1 mS/cm. The authors described it as the highest proton conductivity then reported for a biological material. That is a dated claim from their paper—not evidence that the finding remains the current record.
What “shark jelly” is
Shark jelly is not a food, a product, or a free-standing substance collected for sale. It is hydrated material inside the canals of the ampullae of Lorenzini, sensory organs found in sharks, skates, and related fish. The canals connect pores in the skin to electrosensory cells.
These organs help the animals detect weak electric fields. University coverage of the 2016 study notes that sharks, skates, and rays can detect fields as weak as 5 nV/cm through signals integrated across the ampullae. The exact part the jelly plays in transmitting those signals, however, was not resolved by the conductivity study.
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Erik Josberger and coauthors measured jelly extracted from bonnethead sharks, longnose skates, and big skates. They used two- and four-terminal devices with proton-conducting PdHₓ contacts and reported proton conductivity of 2 ± 1 mS/cm at room temperature.
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The authors compared their result with Nafion, an engineered proton-conducting polymer, and said the jelly’s conductivity was about 40 times lower. This comparison describes a measured difference; it does not mean the biological material is equivalent to a manufactured fuel-cell membrane. The study did not demonstrate a working fuel cell or a commercial material made from shark jelly.
Why the jelly may conduct protons
The researchers identified keratan sulfate in the jelly and proposed that its sulfate acid groups could donate protons to water in the hydrated material. That is a proposed explanation for the observed conductivity, not a fully established account of how the jelly works in the living sensory organ.
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Hydration matters to this explanation: the proposed proton movement involves water in the gel. The study’s conductivity result therefore belongs to the tested hydrated biological sample and measurement conditions, rather than establishing a fixed value for every shark or skate.
How later findings compare
Related studies concern different materials or measurements, so their numbers should not be treated as a sequence of competing measurements of the same shark jelly.
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| Study and sample | Reported result | What the result represents |
|---|---|---|
| Josberger and coauthors, 2016: hydrated ampullae jelly from sharks and skates | 2 ± 1 mS/cm at room temperature | Proton conductivity measured in the natural jelly; the authors called it the highest reported for a biological material at that time. |
| “Proton conductivity of glycosaminoglycans,” 2019: hydrated keratan sulfate purified from bovine cornea | 0.50 ± 0.11 mS/cm | Proton conductivity in a purified substance from a different sample, not a second measurement of shark jelly. |
| “Artificial jelly channel inspired by the shark for sensing specific ions and environmental perturbation,” 2022: fabricated PVA/PANI hydrogel channel | 10.8 mS/cm | Ion conductivity in a synthetic research construct. It is not the natural jelly or a directly comparable proton-conductivity result. |
| “Bacterial diversity in the jelly of shark Ampullae of Lorenzini: a holobiont perspective,” 2025: diluted ampullae gel | 2.21 mS/cm average | A preliminary conductivity measurement using a conductometer. The authors noted that measurements were limited; it is not established as a proton-specific replication of the 2016 method. |
The 2019 result supports the plausibility of proton conduction in hydrated glycosaminoglycans, but it does not identify the full mechanism in shark jelly. The 2022 work demonstrates a fabricated sensor design inspired by the organ, not a product made from the natural material. Neither result establishes that the 2016 biological-material record has been surpassed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the finding may—and may not—lead to
University coverage discussed possible future sensor and proton-exchange applications, and the later hydrogel study reported a laboratory-made sensing channel. These are research directions, not evidence of a commercially available shark-jelly device or membrane.
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Marco Rolandi, the 2016 study’s corresponding author, said the observation could contribute to future studies of the electrosensing function of the ampullae and the organ overall. His phrasing was prospective: the conductivity result may help motivate further investigation, but it does not by itself explain how the jelly contributes to sensation.
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What remains unresolved
- Whether any later biological-material study has surpassed the 2016 result globally is not established by the evidence summarized here.
- The proposed role of keratan sulfate’s acid groups needs to be distinguished from a complete explanation of proton transport in the living organ.
- The precise contribution of the jelly to signal transmission from skin pores to electrosensory cells remains unsettled.
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