Has the Longest Deep-Sea Animal Been Just Spotted off the Australian Coast?

We all know that the deep sea is full of secrets since it is largely unexplored. Marine scientists are always surprised by the creatures that they find in the darkness, and it is safe to say that they have not found them all. The ocean is big, and the deep sea holds many mysterious creatures. In this article, we will talk about one of them. Every day we find new things about the ocean, and this one is just one of them.

They used an underwater robot

A team of researchers has been exploring the Ningaloo Canyons, off the coast of Western Australia. They used a SuBastian underwater robot, and they say they have hit gold. They believe they found the longest organism ever recorded. We are talking about a giant siphonophore of the genus Apolemia, according to some sources.

Is it a bigger jellyfish?

The siphonophore is related to corals and jellyfish, and it looks like a string that’s gelatinous. It is also formed by thousands of small, specialized cells, which are called zooids, and which work together in order to create a functional colony.

They found more than just the siphonophore

Researchers stated that the colony that was seen in the images they capture is more than 120 meters long. They observed up to 30 new species, and they also found a bioluminescent octopus squid, many other species of mollusks, barnacles, and squat lobsters, and also a long-tailed sea cucumber. All of these discoveries will be added to the existing knowledge of the deep ocean, and of the management of protected areas.

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