Siphonophore: Deep-sea superorganism
By PINK TENTACLE
Added: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 UTC
Reposted from:
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/12/siphonophore-deep-sea-superorganism-video/
and
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/12/isnt_it_cool_what_you_can_find.php
Here is some terrific video of a bioluminescent deep-sea siphonophore — an eerily fantastic creature that appears to be a single, large organism, but which is actually a colony of numerous individual jellyfish-like animals that behave and function together as a single entity. The individual units, called zooids, all share the same genetic material and each perform a specialized role within the colony. The best-known siphonophore is the poisonous Portuguese Man oâ War (Physalia physalis), which lives at the surface of the ocean, unlike the one shown in this video (filmed at a depth of 770 meters). Some siphonophore species can grow up to 40 meters (130 ft) in length.
See more about Siphonophores here (thanks to mordacious1)
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