Longest Animal in the world
According to a recent discovery off the coast of Western Australia, Siphonophore is the longest animal in the world. Siphonophore is a gelatinous, stinging, stringed animal. Siphonophore grows to 150 feet long; It is 50 feet longer than a blue whale! its body is as thick as a broomstick. Although they appear to be a single animal, Siphonophores aren’t really one animal, but rather a connected colony of genetically identical pieces. each siphonophore is actually a colony of organisms that clone themselves thousands of times and form long chains together. Most of them live in the deep sea and they are found in all of oceans.
Siphonophores are predators. Siphonophores use their stingers to eat plankton such as copepods, krill and mysids. However, some siphonophore species can eat large prey such as fish. They have stingers that ensnare, paralyse and kill prey.The individual members that make up a siphonophore colony are called ‘zooids. These zooids cannot live by themselves, but together, they become a stringy, stinging siphonophore. All zooids are not having the same DNA. Each zooid has a specific role to play. Some zooids catch prey, others digest food, some reproduce and others direct the action by swimming.
Different, specialized zooids arrange themselves in a specific, repeating order within the colony. While the pattern of zooids is the same among members of the same siphonophore species, the order differs between species. Piece by piece, these zooids may be the longest animal on our planet.Siphonophore bioluminescent - it produces its own light. When it collides with something, its stem glows bright blue or green.
- The 46-meter-long Siphonophore was found lurking beneath 625-meter waves off the coast of Western Australia.
- 46-metre-long siphonophore is nearly six times the length of a Routemaster double-decker bus.
- There are 175 species in Siphonophore.
- Some deep-water species have dark orange or red digestive systems.
- Siphonophores are very fragile and can break into many pieces even under small forces.
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