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Giant String-Like Siphonophore Discovered

EnolaGaia

I knew the job was dangerous when I took it ...
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The estimated length of this newly discovered siphonophore specimen is circa 145 - 150 feet.
See a giant siphonophore, a bizarre ocean creature that looks like silly string

While most of the world is hunkered down at home, scientists on the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor are isolated on the ocean during an expedition to study the Ningaloo Canyons off the western coast of Australia.

They found something flabbergasting in the deep sea: a crazy-long ocean creature called a siphonophore. Schmidt Ocean tweeted a video of what looks like a huge line of silly string sprayed in a spiral pattern in the water. ...

"It seems likely that this specimen is the largest ever recorded, and in strange UFO-like feeding posture," the institute wrote. Schmidt Ocean estimated the siphonophore's outer ring at 49 feet (15 meters) in diameter.

While the siphonophore, which is related to jellyfish, looks like it's all one animal, it's actually a collection of parts. ...

"It's made of millions of interconnected clones, like if the Borg and the Clone Wars had a baby together. There are about a dozen different jobs a clone can do in the colony, and each clone is specialized to a particular task," explained Rebecca Helm, a University of North Carolina, Asheville, marine biologist who started a Twitter thread to add context to the video. ...

FULL STORY (With Video):
https://www.cnet.com/news/see-a-gia...-ocean-creature-that-looks-like-silly-string/

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I've been fascinated by siphonophores since hearing about the truly strange praya Dubia ('dubious prayer'), a toxic filament longer than a whale that floats in the deep sea entangling unsuspecting creatures.

It's not very clear in the article you posted if a new species has been discovered or just one of unprecedented size; I suspect the latter.
 
... It's not very clear in the article you posted if a new species has been discovered or just one of unprecedented size; I suspect the latter.

True ... I've not yet seen any report on this encounter that describes this specimen at any level more specific than the genus Apolemia. By the same token, I have yet to see any report claiming this is a new species.
 
Beautiful!
 
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