Snot Living
What you see here is mostly snot.
But isn't it the most beautiful snot you've ever seen? Imagine if you sneezed and this was what came out? Flu-like symptoms would be that much more aesthetically pleasing.
However, it isn't just pretty, it's also useful.
If you look closely, you might be able to see something that looks like a tadpole wriggling amongst the snotty convolutions.
It's called a Larvacea (Appendicularia) and, like salps and sea squirts, it's one of those bizarre animals that IS a chordate but IS NOT a vertebrate.
Larvaceans create these snotty structures out of mucus. It's called a 'house' because they live in it, but they also use it to filter the water of anything too big to eat. It's not just a home, it's a palatial sieve.
Eventually the house gets clogged up and the Larvacean abandons it and makes a new one. The old house, meanwhile, sinks to ocean floor, delivering valuable nutrients to the abyssal depths.
As you can see, the Larvacean house is not just a pretty sneeze.
Either that or they’re rookie, mind-controlling aliens practising on model brains.
...Video: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
