Apolemia Vitiazi
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Apolemia'' is a genus of
siphonophore Siphonophorae (from Ancient Greek σίφων (siphōn), meaning "tube" and -φόρος (-phóros), meaning "bearing") is an order within Hydrozoa, a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. According to the World Register of Marine ...
s. It is the only genus in the
monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...
family Apolemiidae. Despite appearing to be a single multicellular organism, they are actually a floating colony of polyps and medusoids, collectively known as
zooid A zooid or zoöid is an 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 ...
s.


Research history

The genus ''Apolemia'', named by Baltic-German physician and naturalist
Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz (1 November 1793 – 7 May 1831)Sterling (1997) was a Baltic German physician, naturalist, and entomologist. He was one of the earliest scientific explorers of the Pacific region, making significant collec ...
, was first documented in 1815 with the discovery and description of ''
Apolemia uvaria ''Apolemia uvaria'', commonly known as string jellyfish, barbed wire jellyfish,Jones, Georgina. ''A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula.'' SURG, Cape Town, 2008. and long stringy stingy thingy, is a colonial siphonophore. As ...
'' (the "string jellyfish"), by French naturalist
Charles Alexandre Lesueur Charles Alexandre Lesueur (; 1 January 1778 in Le Havre – 12 December 1846 in Le Havre) was a French Natural history, naturalist, artist, and explorer. He was a prolific natural-history collector, gathering many type specimens in Australia ...
off the coast of Europe. It was displaying a net-like feeding pattern in the
pelagic zone The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...
, and was documented to have rows of
nematocyst A cnidocyte (also known as a cnidoblast) is a type of cell containing a large secretory organelle called a ''cnidocyst'', that can deliver a sting to other organisms as a way to capture prey and defend against predators. A cnidocyte explosively ...
s. Few species have been well-defined within the genus otherwise. In 2020 researchers working off the coast of Western Australia came across an ''Apolemia'' which had coiled itself into a spiral form. The outer "ring" was estimated to be 47 meters (154 feet) long, with an estimated total length of 119 meters (390 feet). This would make it longer than any other animal on the planet, if one includes colonial animals, although individuals of the
lion's mane jellyfish The lion's mane jellyfish (''Cyanea capillata'') is one of the Largest organisms#Cnidarians (Cnidaria), largest known species of jellyfish. Its range is confined to cold, boreal ecosystem, boreal waters of the Arctic Ocean, Arctic, northern Atla ...
(''Cyanea capillata'') are known to be nearly as large.Wood, Gerald ''The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats'' (1983)


Species

The following species are classified within the genus ''Apolemia'': * '' Apolemia contorta'' sensu (Margulis, 1976) * '' Apolemia lanosa'' Siebert, Pugh, Haddock & Dunn, 2013 * ''
Apolemia rubriversa ''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 zooi ...
'' Siebert, Pugh, Haddock & Dunn, 2013 * ''
Apolemia uvaria ''Apolemia uvaria'', commonly known as string jellyfish, barbed wire jellyfish,Jones, Georgina. ''A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula.'' SURG, Cape Town, 2008. and long stringy stingy thingy, is a colonial siphonophore. As ...
'' (Lesueur, 1815) * '' Apolemia vitiazi'' (Stepanjants, 1967)


Anatomy

Siphonophores, such as ''Apolemia'', are generally classified into three major types: Physonectae, Cystonectae, and Calycophorae. ''Apolemia'' spp. are classified as part of Physonectae, possessing this group's
body plan A body plan, (), or ground plan is a set of morphology (biology), morphological phenotypic trait, features common to many members of a phylum of animals. The vertebrates share one body plan, while invertebrates have many. This term, usually app ...
; physonects have a pneumatophore towards the surface of the colony, and a nectosome towards the base. Individual zooids are orientated in either polyp or medusae forms, such as gastrozooids and nectophores (medusae). The orientation of these zooids differs to achieve optimal function within the colony, serving a role in locomotion, propulsion, feeding, and defense. Most physonects are described as being jellyfish-shaped, though ''Apolemia'' proves to be an exception in this instance, aligned more laterally than rounded, such as conventional jellyfish.


Pneumatophore

Vertical displacement for the ''Apolemia'' is facilitated by the presence of a pneumatophore, a regulating air-float (similar to a
swim bladder The swim bladder, gas bladder, fish maw, or air bladder is an internal gas-filled organ (anatomy), organ in bony fish that functions to modulate buoyancy, and thus allowing the fish to stay at desired water depth without having to maintain lift ...
) that allows the colony to displace itself both above and below the
pycnocline A pycnocline is the cline or layer where the density gradient () is greatest within a body of water. An ocean current is generated by the forces such as breaking waves, temperature and salinity differences, wind, Coriolis effect, and tides caused ...
depending on prey availability and ocean conditions. Expanding the air-float increases the colony's buoyancy in the water, producing a steep enough contrast for the entire colony to traverse higher in the water column; the inverse is also the case. In addition to assisting in prey location, pneumatophores are integral in the survival of the entire colony, because if water conditions became less optimal due to pH fluctuation, temperature variations, or anoxic water zones, the colony is capable of evacuating out of the area.


Nectophore

Horizontal displacement for ''Apolemia'' is facilitated by the presence of nectophores. ''Apolemia'' utilize nectophores by producing jet-like propulsion by excreting water. ''Apolemia'' are colonial organisms and exhibit a high level of communication. Smaller zooids are concentrated at the front of the organisms and are responsible for minute movements such as turning. The larger zooids are located at the back and are responsible for the bulk of the forward momentum.


Nematocysts

Predatory siphonophores such as ''Apolemia'' rely on nematocyst rows to inject toxins and incapacitate prey for the colony to feed. As the ''Apolemia'' grow, and chance of the colony splitting increases, movements are reduced and ''Apolemia'' abandon the hunting,
motile Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently using metabolic energy. This biological concept encompasses movement at various levels, from whole organisms to cells and subcellular components. Motility is observed in animals, mi ...
lifestyle for a more
sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
,
ambush An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...
lifestyle, where the coils of threadlike tubes can be most efficiently extended to entrap and incapacitate prey. The newsworthy ''Apolemia'' found in 2020, measuring approximately 119 metres, was found coiled in a unique, spiraled shape, increasing the surface area covered in the pycnocline and increasing the potential of trapping prey.


Ecology

''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 become paralyzed.


References

Apolemiidae Hydrozoan genera Bioluminescent cnidarians Taxa named by Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz {{Siphonophorae-stub