Siphonophores are large clusters of small zooids – which is an individual animal that needs to live in a cluster to survive that leads to an alien-like look deep in the ocean. They reside in the deep sea typically between 700 and 1,000 meters. Giant siphonophores are one of the biggest things in the ocean, reaching lengths of 40 meters or longer, although their bodies are relatively thin, really only getting to be as thick as a broomstick. They are made up of a jelly-like goo, often having a colorful ribbon of a digestive tract that runs through their body. They belong to the class Cnideria but are strangely different from jellyfish or corals, but they all have zooids that make up specific parts of their bodies. Every zooid makes up a key part of the organism, creating a perfect symphony of colonies.
Giant siphonophores bodies are made up of hundreds of zooids, they work collectively for the function of the organism, each one having their own particular job, some for swimming, eating, and reproducing. They need each other for survival, they can’t live on their own – oftentimes these are actually clones of the original zooid and perform the same function. Zooids are created from an individual egg and like a coral, the new zooids bud off of the original, making them almost complete copies of themselves that then specialize. These zooids are extremely specified, there are ones just for digesting the food that a different zooid has caught. They are all different species, attached by an exoskeleton or tissue that surrounds them. The organism itself is extremely fragile, small events lead to breaks or leaving the siphonophore to a “goo-like” substance. But what makes these long animals interesting?
Giant Siphonophore, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research Image
Well they are able to generate red-light, which at the deep sea level is rare and hard to come by – giant siphonophores were actually the first known invertebrate to generate this red light. They do this to get prey, the light attracts the fish and the nematocysts kill it, while another specialized zooid digests it. Giant siphonophores are also very understudied due to the difficulty of finding them, you can’t quite just catch them. Finding them is difficult, it is mostly done through scuba and deep dives. Taking samples can be difficult due to their jelly-like consistency.
Giant siphonophores are a scientific mystery because of their production of red light along with their morphological characteristics. They are among the largest creatures found in the ocean, but aren’t talked about enough, making them an unknown marvel.
Image Citations
Monterey Bay Aquarium
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/giant-siphonophore
Citations
“Giant Siphonophore.” Montereybayaquarium.org, 2020, www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/giant-siphonophore.
“Siphonophores.” Siphonophores.org, 2019, www.siphonophores.org/SiphLifeCycle.php.
Dunn, Casey. “Siphonophores.” Current Biology, vol. 19, no. 6, Mar. 2009, pp. R233–R234, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2009.02.009.Mackie, G.O., et al. “Siphonophore Biology.” Advances in Marine Biology, 1988, pp. 97–262, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0065-2881(08)60074-7. Accessed 1 Nov. 2020.