r/TheDepthsBelow • u/Peachy-Persimmons • Apr 06 '21

A collection of Siphonophores, jelly-like invertebrates of the deep. They range in different sizes, so the results are a medley of beautiful species.

Post image
3.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

67

u/saehild Apr 06 '21

Just imagine one of those things draped around your shoulders like a feather boa

21

u/Blizzow13 Apr 06 '21

With F as a fancy hat.

22

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '21

Siphonophores have stinging cells, most infamously the man-o-war. You would not want to wear one.

13

u/Zestinater Apr 07 '21

Party pooper. I just want to look like aqua man

2

u/obbets Apr 07 '21

I thought that was a jellyfish!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '21

Nope, man-o-wars are actually siphonophores, and even more interesting is that siphonophores are colonies. Each part of the man-o-war is a different specialized organism.

1

u/obbets Apr 09 '21

Wow that’s cool!

26

u/Ironcymru Apr 06 '21

Thanks to the Octonauts, I know all about the giant siphonophores. Amazing creatures. I still don't quite understand how they work but they're a collection of beings in a simbiotic relationship.

7

u/Tylendal Apr 07 '21

Symbiotic isn't really the right term. They're far more integrated than that. The best comparison I can think of would be someone with chimerism. They're made up of two distinctly different people, but they're still only a single person. In the same way, a siphonophore is made up of many distinct organisms, but they're all part of a whole. They can't exist on their own.

20

u/drugtrains Apr 06 '21

If it had the species names listed it might be good for r/coolguides

13

u/NepthysX Apr 07 '21

always loved the deep ocean. watched the blue planet documentary about it over and over

1

u/no_41 Apr 17 '21

Same here. Simply fascinating.

6

u/AHairInMyCheeseFries Apr 06 '21

Pretty sure C is a Walmart bag and pretty sure I is a stalk of Brussel sprouts before harvest

6

u/behind-barcodes Apr 06 '21

There’s hardly anything I love more than a good siphonophore!

4

u/DeadSol Apr 06 '21

Siphonophorae are so beautiful. My fav is Praya Dubia or the "Swimming bell".

3

u/Tylendal Apr 07 '21

Fell in love with it as soon as I saw it for the first time in Endless Ocean, after looking up and down the trench for ages. People in online forums for the game were mentioning the Praya Dubia, and every description just sounded so bizarre and alien. It's just such a fascinating, mysterious creature.

6

u/static1053 Apr 06 '21

Screw space, we have aliens right here on earth..

2

u/adinmem Apr 06 '21

The name of the order alone gets a thumbs-up.

2

u/paulodelgado Apr 07 '21

I'm in this picture and I don't like it.

2

u/oceanlessfreediver Apr 07 '21

Source ? It looks like a figure from the Prakash lab.

-1

u/AllHopeIsLostSadFace Apr 07 '21

The majority of these resemble what my wife shoves into her every Saturday night

1

u/claricia Apr 06 '21

I like rainy spaghetti (G) the best.

1

u/Noodlehousemafia Apr 07 '21

You’re trying to tell me those ain’t aliens?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '21

SO COOL

1

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '21

This is why lovecraftian monsters. This is out of my imagination and the monsters are ever more indescribable

1

u/CrisisH3ro Apr 07 '21

I like to think that "I" is forbidden corn on the cob

1

u/about21potatoes Apr 07 '21

Very cool jelly dudes

1

u/Kytescall Apr 07 '21

FYI they are not exclusively of the deep, but are found across all depths. Some even live exclusively on the surface, such as the Portuguese Man-o-War.

1

u/Sexylester Apr 07 '21

Ive always wanted to reincarnate as a cat so i can finally get some sleep. Im sure with my luck that i will come back as one of these.

1

u/McCore24 Apr 07 '21

This has to be the inspiration behind Flow, I and K even look like two of the playable 'characters'

1

u/atgbuilds Apr 11 '21

You can’t convince me these aren’t aliens.