#siphonophorae

[snototter]

A Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) in the waters of Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, USA

by Helene Hoffman

[scopostims]

siphonophorae stimboard for anon :•]

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[life-on-our-planet]

The Portuguese Man O’ War floats with the help of a gas filled bladder, topped by a vertical membrane serving as a sail. Long threads trail behind it, some as many as 30 meters long, and each armed with many thousands of stinging cells. BBC Earth

[dromeoraptor]

Siphonophores, the "Multi-Organism Organisms"

Siphonophores are really weird. They're like multicellular² organisms. A multi-cellular organism is made of multiple cells, most of them physically attatched to each other. They're all clones of the original zygote cell, (in most animals at least, and I think most things that reproduce via sexual reproduction) and while each cell is alive in its own right, they act as one organism. A siphonophore is made of multiple zooids (each zooid is homologous to an independent organism. So each nectophore is its own "jellyfish."), all of them physically attatched to each other. They're all clones of the original protozooid, and while each zooid is alive in its own right, they act as one organism. At least practically. I don't think we label the word "organism" to the siphonophore as a whole? I'm not sure actually. Normal animals could sorta be considered "single-zooided organisms"

(Diagram of Nanomia bijuga from here. Original drawing by Freya Goetez.) ... and so I went to look at the wikipedia article for organism to see if that helped in figuring out what label the colony goes under...

and it turns out what an organism even is isn't clear. Honestly, it reminds me of the species problem. The whole thing of "what is a species? Are species even natural things or are they just categories we use to better understand the tree of life?" and stuff like that.

Image from the wikipedia article on Species. We have these concepts that are so intuitive to us, these obvious base boxes to separate life into. A box for each type of thing. A box for each living thing. Until we get these edge cases that show us that that these boxes aren't natural. They're useful, absolutely! But it's not something with sharp edges. It's gradients. In conclusion. I think I know what a siphonophore is doing, and how it works. The question of "is a siphonophore an organism" is less about what a siphonophore is, and more about what an organism is. And the answer is... "idfk it's an edge case" edit: So I watched the alien ocean video on Siphonophores and found this really cool quote. Here's the full version of the quote (or well the full version from the paper she cites. I think Gould's quote has a bit cut out of it hence the ellipsis.

For Wilson (1975), “the resolution of the paradox is that siphonophores are both organisms and colonies. Structurally and embryonically they qualify as organisms. Phylogenetically they originated as colonies.” For Gould (1984), “the siphonophore paradox does have an answer of sorts, and a profound one at that. The answer is that we asked the wrong question….. Are siphonophores organisms or colonies? Both and neither; they lie in the middle of a continuum where one grades into the other.”

from (Mackie, G. O., Pugh, P. R., & Purcell, J. E. (1988). Siphonophore biology. In Advances in Marine biology (Vol. 24, pp. 97-262). Academic Press.)

[weirdcreaturefeed]

Weird Creature of the Day: Portugese Man 'o War

Yes, you can sail the seven seas, in the navy! With Physalia physalis, of course!

P. physalis is not a jellyfish, but siphonophore- an organism made of multiple genetically identical but physiologically different units called zooids.

Their tentacles, covered in venomous nematocysts, are typically 10m/32.8 ft, but can grow up to 30m/98.4 ft. They contribute roughly 10,000 instances of sting incidents every summer in Australia. So so pretty but so so painful.

It's able to float because the lobe at the top of the organism is filled with gas similar to the air in our atmosphere.

They are named for their resemblance to caravels, colonial sailing vessels by Portugal and Spain in the 1400s and 1500s. Note the sail-like frill on top.

Unlike colonial explorers, however, it does not choose where it goes to cause havoc and pain. Its movement is decided entirely by the tides, winds, and currents, resulting in them getting beached more than one might expect. If you see one, expect to see a lot more, and be careful!

They're found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions but have also been seen in more temperate zones. Unrestrained summer fun

Photo: @oceansecrets_02 via Instagram

[sandjosieph]

Siphonophore GeminiTay HeadFanon

This was my personal fanon for nl!Gem’s first life.

As an siphonophore Gem’s individual parts referred to themselves as "Us"/"We". They addressed the Gem "Body" as "It" but liked to refer to the entity known as "GeminiTay" using the ominous "SHE"/"HER".

The Gem body was actually a sentient mobile hive made of bees wax and had veins that distributed honey to the other parts.

Meanwhile, the Gem colony was made up of primarily worker bees with only a couple of male drones and a queen for each part of the body.

It was possible for Gem to lose a body part but they could be reattached easily enough. If a part was outright destroyed it would take a while for more bees to be gathered to recreate it.

[chrysocomae]

Description

1. (center): Discolabe quadrigata (Haeckel) = Physophora hydrostatica Forskål, 1775, colony

2. (top left): Discolabe quadrigata (Haeckel) = Physophora hydrostatica Forskål, 1775, gas bladder and bells from above

3. (top right): Discolabe quadrigata (Haeckel) = Physophora hydrostatica Forskål, 1775, single swimming bell from above

4. (bottom left): Discolabe quadrigata (Haeckel) = Physophora hydrostatica Forskål, 1775, trunk without polyps from below

5. (bottom right): Discolabe quadrigata (Haeckel) = Physophora hydrostatica Forskål, 1775, trunk without polyps from above

- Kunstformen der Natur (1904), plate 37: Siphonophorae by Ernst Haeckel

[saturnmortis]

Bathyphysa Conifera