Range: Oceans worldwide

Habitat: Shallow seas to abyssal depths

Size: Can reach more than 130 feet (40m) in length

Diet: Fish, krill and other crustaceans, and more

Threats: Turtles, pram bugs, and more

Lifespan: Unknown

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing siphonophores. These animals are related to corals and have a gelatinous body which means they're sometimes confused for jellyfish. For example, the Portuguese Man of War is often called a jellyfish, but this colonial organism is in fact a siphonophore.

Siphonophores may look like a single individual animal, but they're actually many clones of small animals coming together to form a colony organism. The individual parts of a siphonophore are known as zooids and alone they are unable to survive. Each zooid performs a specific function in the siphonophore colony. Some are tasked with food collection. Some eat. Some reproduce. Others expel waste. And some are in charge of movement. All of these zooids are a clone of the original zooid who builds the colony through asexual reproduction.

Siphonophores are cnidarians and sting their prey with their dangling tentacles. These include fish, krill, copepods, and more. Siphonophores also use bioluminescence to draw prey in. They emit blue-green light to attract morsels towards them. They're also able to show off in red colors which is uncommon even among other light producing animals!

Though they might seem helpless, siphonophores are able to swim! Some species, however, hang out on the bottom of the water column. They look like spiky little balls. An entire siphonophore colony can reach over 130 feet (40m) in length meaning they can reach longer than what is usually considered the world's longest animal, the blue whale. So what do you think, is a colony organism made up of multiple animals able to beat the blue whale in the ranking or does the fact that a siphonophore is not an entire single animal impact this status? But don't forget the bootlace worm while we think about this! Around its body, a siphonophore is only about the width of a broomstick.

Siphonophores live in all oceans around the world from shallow seas to the abyssal depths. It should be noted, however, that the sediment and waves of the upper part of the ocean are detrimental to a siphonophore's body. These organisms are fragile and lots of turbulence can break them apart! There are currently 175 classified siphonophore species. What's cool is that each colony of a single species looks like the other colonies of that species, but the separate species look different!

Some animals, like leatherback sea turtles, eat siphonophores. Pram bugs, which are deep sea crustaceans, hollow out siphonophores to use as a house. Typically speaking, though, a siphonophore's stinging tentacles keep it protected from predators.

For more facts on siphonophores, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today. Thank you to our Patrons SpikeSpiegel93, Dad, and everyone else for their support of this channel! And thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!