So, About 3 years ago I saw a documentary in which they showed video of this Jellyfish like animal. It was huge. It was supposed to have been made up of 4 separate organisms. If I remember correctly it fights giant squids and whales. It was so unusual that the scientific community created a whole new phylum for it.

This is the one and only time I ever saw this video. Which is strange considering how unusual it is. It was one of the most impressive deep sea docs' I'd ever seen. And I'm a nut for this kind of thing.

Can anybody remember what this animal is called? Searches on google for terms like "giant jellyfish" return lots of hits but not what I am looking for.

If you know where I can find video footage of this please post?

I know one of you can help me on this... so thanks in advance.

I can't help you much; I've never heard any legends about such a huge creature. Portugese Man-O-Wars are said to be a community of creatures, not just one creature (can't recall where I read that), but of course, they're nowhere near that size/area. Tendrils of same can extend downward beyond 20 feet.

I'll go look at the criptid sites I have saved, see if there's anything.

it is real, And is made up of millions of tiny single organisms, they can arange themselves in differant forms, so it may be difficult to identify. Think living nanobots.

Im pretty sure that they filter feed

I think that is what you mean, they can also light up different colours like the majority of deepsea creatures.

[edit on 24-9-2008 by monkeybus]

I believe the 'largest' jellyfish in terms of mass is (spelling) Psyphonophore which has a huge 'head' for propulsion (opening and closing to pull and push itself through the water) and incredibly long strands of trailing stinging clusters, up to 250 feet long! This is a mid ocean deep sea creature that feeds on plankton and tiny creatures, never rising to surface level (that I know of).

But what you are describing seems to be something 'bulkier'. I know of no creature (other than some plant life) that would cover that kind of area (a football field)

No, I'm telling you this was a factual documentary, me and my father both saw it, It was amazing and it was not CG.

I remember that show too it was also excellent.

Thanks anyways,

If only I could remember what it is called


[edit on 24-9-2008 by red_leader]

Ah-ha a breakthrough. So what I am really looking for is information, photos or vids of a giant siphonophore... We're getting close though. I can't believe it is so hard to find evidence of this spectacular creature on the great all-knowing google. When the narrator was describing this, even he sounded awestruck!

Thanks guys.. now we're on the right track.

[edit on 24-9-2008 by red_leader]

[edit on 24-9-2008 by red_leader]

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[edit on 24-9-2008 by red_leader]

I've obviously heard of Portugese man of wars before these have been described in science for a long time. Is the fact that these creatures function in this symbiotic way a new revelation? Did biologists simply think they were jellyfish before? Because the way they described it in the documentary it seemed that this symbiotic relationship was something new.

Originally posted by red_leader
I've obviously heard of Portugese man of wars before these have been described in science for a long time. Is the fact that these creatures function in this symbiotic way a new revelation? Did biologists simply think they were jellyfish before? Because the way they described it in the documentary it seemed that this symbiotic relationship was something new.

Yes it's true, some time ago science used to think the Man-o-war was a single organism. I for exemple studied them in school (20 Years ago) as a single Jellyfish organism. So information is changing with new discoveries, as always science is something in a perpetual evolution.

[edit on 25/9/08 by Umbra Sideralis]

Hi All... I'm a marine biologist so would hope to be qualified to answer your question! I'm not sure about an organism the size of a football field - in fact, a single organism (especially a jelly) would probably not survive to that size anyway as they are so fragile. What you are probably looking for is a colonial organism such as the siphonophores that have previously been mentioned. Physalia, the man-o-war is one, but there are others that also get large. However, these organisms are mainly tentacles so are long and thin - you give the impression that your organism has a large surface area?

I would suggest looking up 'salps' - specifically the Pyrosoma. These are colonial tunicates - related to sea squirts. Tunicates are actually the most advanced of all invertebrates, despite their jelly-like appearance, and have a tadpole larva with a rudimentary spinal chord. They are, therefore, almost vertebrates!! Some species of Pyrosoma (I think....) form rafts that may grow huge and be what you are talking about. Those that form chains such as Pyrosoma spinosum may themselves grow many metres long. Hope that helps!!

N

The animal you are talking about is a praya dubia or Giant siphonophore. It can grow up to 130 feet or 40 meters and feeds on small animlas and plankton.