Researchers have discovered, off
the coast of Australia, a unique creature, made up of thousands of organisms
that form the different parts of its body.
Not a whale, and far from being
an animal that we see every day in our documentaries, the blue whale exceeds 33
meters, but this marine animal exceeds 45 meters, not as well known as our
famous whale but much more mysterious , and full of secrets that researchers
are trying to unlock with great difficulty!
This species is called: The giant
siphonophore (Praya dubia)
it is an animal from the deep sea
belonging to the order of siphonophores. This order is part of the phylum
Cnidarians, a group of invertebrates which also include jellyfish. Source
(Wikepedia).
Last May: this species was
discovered in Australia, Larger than a blue whale, no thicker than a broom
handle.
During a month-long scientific
expedition aboard the Falkor, researchers had the opportunity to study the
Ningaloo coral reef located off the coast of Australia. While exploring the
underwater canyons, the researchers were surprised to film a strange filament.
He was a giant siphonophore from the Apolemia family. The structure found
measured 45 meters, enough to make it larger than a blue whale, the most
imposing animal currently living on our planet, about thirty meters tall.
"The discovery of a
gelatinous rope of siphonophore - a floating colony of tiny individual zoids
that clone themselves thousands of times into specialized bodies and that are
linked together to work as a team - was only one of the unique discoveries
among fish and marine invertebrates never recorded in Western Australia ",
welcomed in a press release published on April 9, 2020 the Schmidt Ocean
Institute. As incredible as it may seem, siphonophores are organisms made up of
other organisms, thus forming a unique form of cnidarian. "Giant
siphonophores, like all siphonophores, represent a set of highly specialized
parts, explains on its site the Monterey Bay Aquarium, located in the United
States. Some parts catch prey, others digest food, other parts reproduce and
the others direct the action during swimming. " The aquarium recalls that
if this disturbing organism (s) is large, it is however extremely thin, even
"not much thicker than a broomstick".
Source (Science and Future)
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