MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) | The woolly siphonophore thrives in the deep sea by stretching out to catch a meal @MBARIvideo | Uploaded October 2023 | Updated October 2024, 23 hours ago.
The endless expanse of the ocean’s midnight zone offers plenty of room to stretch out. Here, some animals can grow to great lengths. Siphonophores are gelatinous animals composed of specialized parts growing together in a chain. The woolly siphonophore (Apolemia lanosa) is a shaggy species we often encounter in Monterey Bay. We know they can reach at least five meters (16 feet) in length, but other siphonophores can be as long as a blue whale!
We often encounter the woolly siphonophore in a spiral coil dangling a curtain of tentacles. Specialized stinging cells stun any unfortunate animal that blunders into those sprawling tentacles. The woolly siphonophore is one of two new Apolemia species we discovered in Monterey Bay. Our team has worked with collaborators around the world to describe 11 previously unknown siphonophore species off the California coast.
Understanding and documenting deep-sea biodiversity is increasingly critical. Fishing pressure, pollution, and climate change all threaten the deep ocean. We urgently need to establish a baseline of what lives in the deep sea to monitor ongoing human impacts on this environment.
Learn more about this and other fascinating animals of the deep: mbari.co/WoollySiphonophore
Script writer: Kristine Walz
Science advisor: Steve Haddock
Editor: Ted Blanco
Narrator: Madeline Go
Motion Graphics: Madeline Go
Production team: Heidi Cullen, Madeline Go, Larissa Lemon, Raúl Nava, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun, Kristine Walz
Music: 'Beautiful Spa Music' by Gusto from Storyblocks.com
References:
Choy, C.A., S.H.D. Haddock, and B.H. Robison (2017). Deep pelagic food web structure as revealed by in situ feeding observations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284: 20172116. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2116
Damian-Serrano, A., S.H.D. Haddock, and C.W. Dunn (2021). The evolution of siphonophore tentilla for specialized prey capture in the open ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(8): e2005063118. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005063118
Damian-Serrano, A., E.D. Hetherington, C.A. Choy, S.H.D. Haddock, A. Lapides, and C.W. Dunn (2022). Characterizing the secret diets of siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) using DNA metabarcoding. PLoS ONE, 17(5): e0267761. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267761
Gasca, R. and S.H.D. Haddock (2016). The rare deep-living hyperiid amphipod Megalanceoloides remipes (Barnard, 1932): complementary description and symbiosis. Zootaxa, 4178 (1): 138-144. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4178.1.7
Gasca, R., R. Hoover, and S.H.D. Haddock (2015). New symbiotic associations of hyperiid amphipods (Peracarida) with gelatinous zooplankton in deep waters off California. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 95(3): 503-511. doi.org/10.1017/S0025315414001416
Haddock, S.H.D. and J.F. Case (1999). Bioluminescence spectra of shallow and deep-sea gelatinous zooplankton: Ctenophores, medusae and siphonophores. Marine Biology, 133: 571-582. doi.org/10.1007/s002270050497
Hetherington, E.D., A. Damian-Serrano, S.H.D. Haddock, C.W. Dunn, and C.A. Choy (2022). Integrating siphonophores into marine food-web ecology. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 7: 81-95. doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10235
Siebert, S., P.R. Pugh, S.H.D. Haddock, and C.W. Dunn (2013). Re-evaluation of characters in Apolemiidae (Siphonophora), with description of two new species from Monterey Bay, California. Zootaxa, 3702 (3): 201-232. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3702.3.1
The endless expanse of the ocean’s midnight zone offers plenty of room to stretch out. Here, some animals can grow to great lengths. Siphonophores are gelatinous animals composed of specialized parts growing together in a chain. The woolly siphonophore (Apolemia lanosa) is a shaggy species we often encounter in Monterey Bay. We know they can reach at least five meters (16 feet) in length, but other siphonophores can be as long as a blue whale!
We often encounter the woolly siphonophore in a spiral coil dangling a curtain of tentacles. Specialized stinging cells stun any unfortunate animal that blunders into those sprawling tentacles. The woolly siphonophore is one of two new Apolemia species we discovered in Monterey Bay. Our team has worked with collaborators around the world to describe 11 previously unknown siphonophore species off the California coast.
Understanding and documenting deep-sea biodiversity is increasingly critical. Fishing pressure, pollution, and climate change all threaten the deep ocean. We urgently need to establish a baseline of what lives in the deep sea to monitor ongoing human impacts on this environment.
Learn more about this and other fascinating animals of the deep: mbari.co/WoollySiphonophore
Script writer: Kristine Walz
Science advisor: Steve Haddock
Editor: Ted Blanco
Narrator: Madeline Go
Motion Graphics: Madeline Go
Production team: Heidi Cullen, Madeline Go, Larissa Lemon, Raúl Nava, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun, Kristine Walz
Music: 'Beautiful Spa Music' by Gusto from Storyblocks.com
References:
Choy, C.A., S.H.D. Haddock, and B.H. Robison (2017). Deep pelagic food web structure as revealed by in situ feeding observations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284: 20172116. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2116
Damian-Serrano, A., S.H.D. Haddock, and C.W. Dunn (2021). The evolution of siphonophore tentilla for specialized prey capture in the open ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(8): e2005063118. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005063118
Damian-Serrano, A., E.D. Hetherington, C.A. Choy, S.H.D. Haddock, A. Lapides, and C.W. Dunn (2022). Characterizing the secret diets of siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) using DNA metabarcoding. PLoS ONE, 17(5): e0267761. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267761
Gasca, R. and S.H.D. Haddock (2016). The rare deep-living hyperiid amphipod Megalanceoloides remipes (Barnard, 1932): complementary description and symbiosis. Zootaxa, 4178 (1): 138-144. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4178.1.7
Gasca, R., R. Hoover, and S.H.D. Haddock (2015). New symbiotic associations of hyperiid amphipods (Peracarida) with gelatinous zooplankton in deep waters off California. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 95(3): 503-511. doi.org/10.1017/S0025315414001416
Haddock, S.H.D. and J.F. Case (1999). Bioluminescence spectra of shallow and deep-sea gelatinous zooplankton: Ctenophores, medusae and siphonophores. Marine Biology, 133: 571-582. doi.org/10.1007/s002270050497
Hetherington, E.D., A. Damian-Serrano, S.H.D. Haddock, C.W. Dunn, and C.A. Choy (2022). Integrating siphonophores into marine food-web ecology. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 7: 81-95. doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10235
Siebert, S., P.R. Pugh, S.H.D. Haddock, and C.W. Dunn (2013). Re-evaluation of characters in Apolemiidae (Siphonophora), with description of two new species from Monterey Bay, California. Zootaxa, 3702 (3): 201-232. doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3702.3.1