Miscellaneous Sea Creatures

The ocean is truly an amazing place, full of different and otherworldly life forms. Since the beginning of life on earth -in the ocean, as single cellular life- many of these have been evolving, changing, species appearing, going extinct... The oceans are the source of all life on the planet, and undebatably with the most variety. 

To show you exactly how diverse life in these waters can be, here are five spectacular creatures you might have not even heard about, currently residing in our oceans.


Siphonophore
Siphonophores are colonial organisms made up of zooids. A zooid is a multicellular organism which fulfills a function in a colony, or forms a bigger animal. What makes them more peculiar is that they are not single cellular organisms, from which colonies are much easier to believe, but multicellular. We can think of this as a group of animals coming together to form an even bigger animal.



There are about 118 species of Siphonophorae known to man, some of which being vastly different from each other. Perhaps the best way to describe these wonderful creatures is alien; but in any case, they are mesmerizing to look at. Most popular species are the venomous Portuguese Man O' War (1st picture) and the Praya Dubia (also known as the Giant Siphonophore).










Recently, there has been a discovery that caused a bit of a stir in media. Many people were confused as to what the thing in the water was, but it was just an unknown species of siphonophore. It is thought to be the longest animal in the world, two times the length of a blue whale. 



Deepstaria Enigmatica
The Deepstaria is a rarely seen, truly bizzarre looking deep-sea jellyfish. It has a translucent, sheet-like body, fluttering, opening and closing as it searches for prey.


Unfortunately, little is known about the species because of the depths it lives in, and the fact that it lives around the Antarctic. 



Giant Isopod

Giant isopods are ocean-dwelling  relatives of today’s pillbugs (wood lice). They are quite similar in appearance as well. Giant isopods are a great example of abyssal gigantism: the tendency of creatures living in deeper seas to grow bigger.



These invertebrates are ecologically important however, providing a source of food for animals in the deeper seas, and scavenging on dead animals on the sea bed, helping the minerals and nutrients be returned to the environment. Although they can be consumed by humans, no companies pursue the use of these animals, and so they continue to reproduce and thrive at the bottom of the sea.




Crinoid
Crinoids are close relatives of starfish, sea cucumbers and brittle stars. Crinoids which (in their adult form) are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or (comatulids.)

    

 The reason behind the naming is quite understandable, as sea lilies look like flowers, and as feather stars look  like a seastar made of feathers. They are truly beautiful creatures.


There are only 600 species of crinoid that we know of, but it is clear to us that they used to be much more diverse from the fossil record, dating back to 480 million years ago.


Pyrosome
Pyrosomes, much like siphonophores are colonial organisms. They are usually encountered when small, but much bigger species have also been seen. Pyrosomes are often cylindrical in shape, made up of zooids- colonies can be as small as under a centimeter.





















Bioluminescence is one of their most known traits, being able to glow for extremely long durations (unlike other similar organisms). Theoretically- the lifespan of a pyrosome is infinite. The zooids forming it can reproduce both sexually and asexually, regenerating anything that could have been harmed.  

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