|
Siphonophores
Siphonophorae (from Greek ''siphōn'' 'tube' + ''pherein'' 'to bear') 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 thus far. Although a siphonophore 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. Zooids are multicellular units that develop from a single fertilized egg and combine to create functional colonies able to reproduce, digest, float, maintain body positioning, and use jet propulsion to move. Most colonies are long, thin, transparent floaters living in the pelagic zone. Like other hydrozoans, some siphonophores emit light to attract and attack prey. While many sea animals produce blue and green bioluminescence, a siphonophore in the genus ''Erenna'' was only the second life form found to produce a red light ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physonectae
Physonectae is a suborder of siphonophores. In Japanese it is called (). Organisms in the suborder Physonectae follow the classic Siphonophore body plan. They are almost all pelagic, and are composed of a colony of specialized zooids that originate from the same fertilized egg. While Physonectae are not generally well-known by the public, a related species also of the order Siphonophorae is the Portuguese man o' war, well-known for its painful sting. Distribution The majority of physonect siphonophores are pelagic, with the exception of Rhodallidae, which are a family of benthic physonects first collected during the ''Challenger'' expedition and described by Ernst Haekel in his ''Challenger'' monograph. Physonects, and siphonophores in general, are known to be widely distributed globally, but are understudied. Few individuals have been collected and are often misidentified. As a result, their exact global distributions are unclear. Morphology All physonect siphonophor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bathyphysa Conifera
''Bathyphysa conifera'', sometimes called the flying spaghetti monster, is a bathypelagic species of siphonophore in the family Rhizophysidae. Name ''Bathyphysa conifera'' was nicknamed the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for the satirical deity of the Internet, by the oil workers who first saw it. The specific epithet ''conifera'', meaning 'cone-bearing', is due to the shape of the cluster of reproductive structures called gonophores. In Japanese it is called / / ', "jewel leek". In Chinese, the nickname "Flying Spaghetti Monster" can be translated as ' "flying noodles monster". Distribution ''Bathyphysa conifera'' has been found in the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Gabon and as far south as Angola,Jones, Daniel O.B., Gates, A.R., Curry, R.A., Thomson, M., Pile, A., Benfield, M. (Eds) (2009). SERPENT project. Media database archive. Available online at http://archive.serpentproject.com/2621/ accessed on Fri Sep 01 2017 and in Monterey Bay in the Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Praya Dubia
The ''Praya dubia'', or giant siphonophore, is an invertebrate which lives in the deep sea at to 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. ''Praya dubia'' is a member of the order Siphonophorae within the class Hydrozoa. With a body length of up to , it is the second-longest sea organism after the bootlace worm. Its length also rivals the blue whale, the sea’s largest mammal, although ''Praya dubia'' is as thin as a broomstick. A siphonophore is not a single, multi-cellular organism, but a colony of tiny biological components called zooids, each having evolved with a specific function. Zooids cannot survive on their own, relying on symbiosis in order for a complete ''Praya dubia'' specimen to survive. Description ''Praya dubia'' zooids arrange themselves in a long stalk—usually whitish and transparent (though other colours have been seen)—known as a physonect colony. The larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cystonectae
Cystonectae is a suborder of siphonophores.Schuchert, P. (2019). World Hydrozoa Database. Cystonectae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=135334 on 2019-03-11 It includes the Portuguese man o' war (''Physalia physalis'') and '' Bathyphysa conifera'', sometimes called the "flying spaghetti monster." In Japanese, it is called (). The typical cystonect body plan has a pneumatophore (float) and siphosome (line of polyps) but no nectosome (propulsion medusae Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella ...). References Siphonophorae Cnidarian suborders Taxa named by Ernst Haeckel Taxa described in 1887 {{Siphonophorae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apolemia
''Apolemia'' is a genus of siphonophores. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Apolemiidae. Despite appearing to be a single multicellular organism, they are actually a floating colony of polyps and medusoids, collectively known as zooids. Discovery The genus ''Apolemia'', named by Baltic-German physician and naturalist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, was first documented in 1815 with the discovery and description of ''Apolemia uvaria'' (the "string jellyfish"), by French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur off the coast of Europe. It was displaying a net-like feeding pattern in the pelagic zone, and was documented to have rows of nematocysts. Few species have been well-defined within the genus otherwise. Feeding ''Apolemia'' are carnivorous invertebrates, which have been documented to feed on small fish, crustaceans, copepods, other plankton, and even other siphonophores. They do so by extending long, curtain-like nematocyst rows into the water column, for prey to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calycophorae
Calycophorae is a suborder of Siphonophores alongside two other suborders Physonectae and Cystonectae. This suborder includes the giant siphonophore, ('' Praya dubia''); one of the longest lengthwise extant creatures (40–50m). While the Physonectae have a pneumatophore (a float), nectophore (or nectosome), 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 thre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippopodius Hippopus
''Hippopodius hippopus'' is a species of siphonophores in the family Hippopodiidae Hippopodiidae is a family of cnidarians belonging to the order Siphonophorae Siphonophorae (from Greek ''siphōn'' 'tube' + ''pherein'' 'to bear') is an order within Hydrozoa, which is a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. A .... References Hippopodiidae Animals described in 1776 {{Siphonophorae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cnidaria
Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in Fresh water, freshwater and Marine habitats, marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that they use mainly for capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell (biology), cell thick. Cnidarians mostly have two basic body forms: swimming Medusa (biology), medusae and Sessility (motility), sessile polyp (zoology), polyps, both of which are Symmetry (biology)#Radial symmetry, radially symmetrical with mouths surrounded by tentacles that bear cnidocytes. Both forms have a single Body orifice, orifice and body cavity that are used for digestion and respiration (physiology), respiration. Many cnidarian species produce Colony (biology), colonies that are single organisms composed of medusa-like or polyp (z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhizophysa Eysenhardtii
''Rhizophysa'' is a genus of cnidarians belonging to the family Rhizophysidae. The species of this genus are found in Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. ..., Northern America. Species: *'' Rhizophysa chamissonis'' *'' Rhizophysa eysenhardtii'' *'' Rhizophysa filiformis'' *'' Rhizophysa uvaria'' References Rhizophysidae Hydrozoan genera {{Siphonophorae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zooid
A zooid or zoöid is a single animal that is part of a colonial animal. This lifestyle has been adopted by animals from separate unrelated taxa. Zooids are multicellular; their structure is similar to that of other solitary animals. The zooids can either be directly connected by tissue (e.g. corals, Catenulida, Siphonophorae, Pyrosome or Ectoprocta) or share a common exoskeleton (e.g. Bryozoa or Pterobranchia). The colonial organism as a whole is called a ''zoon'' , plural ''zoa'' (from Ancient Greek meaning animal; plural , ). Zooids can exhibit polymorphism. For instance, extant bryozoans may have zooids adapted for different functions, such as feeding, anchoring the colony to the substratum and for brooding embryos. However, fossil bryozoans are only known by the colony structures that the zooids formed during life. There are correlations between the size of some zooids and temperature. Variations in zooid size within colonies of fossils can be used as an indicator of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hydrozoa
Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; ) are 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 and belong to the phylum Cnidaria. Some examples of hydrozoans are the freshwater jelly ('' Craspedacusta sowerbyi''), freshwater polyps (''Hydra''), '' Obelia'', Portuguese man o' war (''Physalia physalis''), chondrophores (Porpitidae), " air fern" (''Sertularia argentea''), and pink-hearted hydroids ('' Tubularia''). Anatomy Most hydrozoan species include both a polypoid and a medusoid stage in their lifecycles, although a number of them have only one or the other. For example, ''Hydra'' has no medusoid stage, while '' Liriope'' lacks the polypoid stage. Polyps The hydro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morphology (biology)
Morphology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance ( shape, structure, colour, pattern, size), i.e. external morphology (or eidonomy), as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs, i.e. internal morphology (or anatomy). This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of gross structure of an organism or taxon and its component parts. History The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "form", and (), meaning "word, study, research". While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
