| Bathyphysa conifera | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Hydrozoa |
| Order: | Siphonophorae |
| Family: | Rhizophysidae |
| Genus: | Bathyphysa |
| Species: | B. conifera |
| Binomial name | |
| Bathyphysa conifera | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
Bathyphysa conifera, sometimes called the flying spaghetti monster, is a bathypelagic [2] species of siphonophore in the family Rhizophysidae. It is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Southwestern Africa and California.
Bathyphysa conifera was nicknamed the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for the satirical deity of the Internet, by the oil workers who first saw it in 2015. [5] The specific epithet conifera, meaning 'cone-bearing', [6] is due to the shape of the cluster of reproductive structures called gonophores. [1] In Japanese it is called マガタマニラ [2] [7] / まがたまにら / 勾玉韮 [3] magatamanira, "jewel leek". In Chinese, the nickname "Flying Spaghetti Monster" can be translated as 飞行的面条怪兽fēixíng de miàntiáo guàishòu "flying noodles monster". [8]
Bathyphysa conifera has been found in the Northeast [9] and Northwest Atlantic Ocean, [10] off the coast of Gabon [11] [12] and as far south as Angola, [13] [14] and in Monterey Bay in the Pacific Ocean. [15] [2] It has been found in warm temperatures. [16]
Although B. conifera may appear to be an individual organism, each specimen is in fact a colonial organism composed of medusoid and polypoid zooids that are morphologically and functionally specialized. [17] Zooids are multicellular units that develop from a single fertilized egg and combine to create functional colonies able to: reproduce, digest, float, and maintain body positioning. [18]
It has a cystonect body plan, [19] meaning it has a pneumatophore, or float, and siphosome, or line of polyps, but no nectosome, or propulsion medusae. [20] Without that propulsion, B. conifera moves through contracting and relaxing the body stem. [18] It differs from members of the genus Rhizophysa by the presence of ptera, or side "wings", on the young gastrozooids, or feeding polyps. [21] [13] [14] It is distinct from other members of the genus Bathyphysa as its tentacles do not have any side branches, or tentilla. [19] [21] [13] [14] [18] Tentilla are thought to be ancestral to siphonophores, and B. conifera likely lost the trait as did Apolemia . [22] [18] The tentacles have stinging cells called nematocysts that are haploneme, or uniform in thickness, and have a single size of isorhiza, or anchoring nematocysts. [22]
The entire animal, including tentacles, is several meters long. [14] The feeding polyps are pink when young, before developing tentacles. [14] A mature feeding polyp is yellow with a single tentacle. [14]
Colonies are unisexual, [14] and reproduce by incomplete asexual reproduction. [18] Not much more is known about B. conifera reproduction. Early development of cystonects is not known either. [23] Siphonophores generally start life as a single-celled zygote, which divided and grows into a single polyp called a protozooid. [23] [18] The protozooid then divides by budding into all the zooids of the colony. [23] The zooids are homologous to individual animals, but are connected physiologically to each other. [18]
Like many siphonophores, [17] it is carnivorous. [2] [18] The typical siphonophore diet consists of a variety of copepods, small crustaceans, and small fish. [17] B. conifera has been observed eating a lanternfish. [15]
A species of manefish in the genus Caristius associates apparently mutualistically with B. conifera, using it for shelter, stealing meals, and perhaps nibbling on its host as well, yet protecting it from amphipod parasites like Themisto . [19]
Cnidaria is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic invertebrates found both in fresh water and marine environments, including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites. Their distinguishing features are an uncentralized nervous system distributed throughout a gelatinous body and the presence of cnidocytes or cnidoblasts, specialized cells with ejectable flagella used mainly for envenomation and capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living, jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. Cnidarians are also some of the few animals that can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
The Portuguese man o' war, also known as the man-of-war or bluebottle, is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be the same species as the Pacific man o' war or bluebottle, which is found mainly in the Pacific Ocean. The Portuguese man o' war is the only species in the genus Physalia, which in turn is the only genus in the family Physaliidae.
Hydrozoa is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialized individual animals cannot survive outside the colony. A few genera within this class live in freshwater habitats. Hydrozoans are related to jellyfish and corals, which also belong to the phylum Cnidaria.
In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainly like muscular hydrostats. Most forms of tentacles are used for grasping and feeding. Many are sensory organs, variously receptive to touch, vision, or to the smell or taste of particular foods or threats. Examples of such tentacles are the eyestalks of various kinds of snails. Some kinds of tentacles have both sensory and manipulatory functions.
Siphonophorae is an order within Hydrozoa, which is a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the order contains 175 species described thus far.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarianism, a parodic new religious movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion. It originated in opposition to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools in the United States. According to adherents, Pastafarianism is a "real, legitimate religion, as much as any other". It has received some limited recognition as such.
Octocorallia is a class of Anthozoa comprising over 3,000 species of marine organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians within three orders: Alcyonacea, Helioporacea, and Pennatulacea. These organisms have an internal skeleton secreted by mesoglea and polyps with eight tentacles and eight mesentaries. As with all cnidarians these organisms have a complex life cycle including a motile phase when they are considered plankton and later characteristic sessile phase.
Praya dubia, the giant siphonophore, lives in the mesopelagic zone to bathypelagic zone at 700 m (2,300 ft) to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) below sea level. It has been found off the coasts around the world, from Iceland in the North Atlantic to Chile in the South Pacific.
Marrus orthocanna is a species of pelagic siphonophore, a colonial animal composed of a complex arrangement of zooids, some of which are polyps and some medusae. Swimming independently in the mid-ocean, it lives in the Arctic and other cold, deep waters. It is a colonial creature that is born from a single egg which is fertilized. Later on, a protozoan forms that eventually grows to form more duplicating members of the colony. It belongs to the order Siphonophorae and the genus Marrus, which also includes M. antarcticus, M. claudanielis, and M. orthocannoides.
Caristius is a genus of manefishes native to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Apolemia is a genus of siphonophores. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Apolemiidae.
Pennaria disticha, also known as the Christmas tree hydroid, is a species of athecate hydroid in the family Pennariidae. Colonies are common in the Mediterranean Sea growing on rocks close to the surface. This species has been used in research into prey capture.
Cystonectae is a suborder of siphonophores. It includes the Portuguese man o' war and Bathyphysa conifera.
Rhizophysidae is a family of siphonophores in the suborder Cystonectae. It includes Bathyphysa conifera, sometimes called the "flying spaghetti monster".
Physonectae is a suborder of siphonophores. In Japanese it is called 胞泳.
Calycophorae is a suborder of Siphonophores alongside two other suborders Physonectae and Cystonectae. This suborder includes the giant siphonophore, ; one of the longest lengthwise extant creatures (40–50m). While the Physonectae have a pneumatophore, nectophore, and a siphosome, Cystonectae lack a nectophore, and Calycophorae lack a pneumatophore. From the bell-shaped nectophores, Physonectae and Calycophorae are called Codonophores or Greek for bell-bearers. The distribution, morphology, and behaviors of Calycophorae species are vast and greatly depend on the species. Calycophoraes typically consist of two nectophores with a siphosome that have many tentacles that grow out of the siphosome. The Calycophoraes move by propelling water out of the nectophore much like how jellyfishes move. The tentacles act as fishing nets where the nematocysts on the tentacles paralyze their prey which are then later fed on. Calycophorae have three life stages, which are the larval development stage, the polygastric stage, and the eudoxid maturation stage. Each Calycophorae colony forms from one fertilized egg.
Nanomia bijuga, first described by Stefano Delle Chiaje in 1844 and originally named Physsophora bijuga, is a species of mesopelagic siphonophore in the family Agalmatidae As with all members of the siphonophorae order, it is a colonial organism composed of individual zooids. N. bijuga has a fairly broad distribution, and has been observed in the coastal waters off of North America and Europe. The species has been found to occupy both epipelagic and mesopelagic depths. They utilize specialized swimming zooids for both propulsion and escape behaviors. Similar to other siphonophores, Nanomia bijuga employ stinging tentacles for hunting and defense. They primarily feed on small crustaceans, especially krill.
Lensia is a genus of hydrozoans belonging to the order Siphonoporae and the family Diphyidae. This genus is colonial and consists of many different types of highly specialized zooids. The genus Lensia was first established in 1932 by Dr. Arthur Knyvett Totton, who would also describe and add another 11 species during his career. As of March 2023, the genus consists of only 26 described and accepted species and an additional seven uncertain species, according to the World Register of Marine Species.
Tima nigroannulata, commonly known as the elegant jellyfish, is a recently discovered colonial hydrozoa found on the Pacific coast of Japan.
Praya reticulata is a species of siphonophore in the family Prayidae. It has a distinctive net of radial canals that make up its central cavity, a distinctive somatocyst that sharply doubles back, and asymmetrical canals on its bracts. The species was described by Henry Bryant Bigelow following its discovery during an expedition of the USS Albatross. The specific epithet reticulata is Latin, and comes from the word reticulatus which means "net-like". In Chinese the species is called 網管帕腊水母, which can be Romanized as wǎngguǎn pà là shuǐmǔ.
マガタマニラ まがたまにら / 勾玉韮 [学]Bathyphysa grimaldi
conifer conifera coniferum cone bearing conus con noun/m κωνοϛ cone i i cnct connective vowel used by botanical Latin fer fer apar fero to bear, carry, bring
Order Cystonectae Family Physaliidae Family Rhizophysidae Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878) A
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