#Pyrosome-Posting

[shadowgale96]

I’m all for white sea snake and white eel Ruoye, this MerMay.

But I raise you pyrosome worm Ruoye.

[skelizard]

Here was my part for @bowelfly's 36-person art telephone game. This was soo much fun and so cool to be a part of, it turned out killer, it really told a story! The post with the full chain is here. Please check out everyone's work they're all so damn good. Mine was based off of @tickfleato's piece which I looked at and thought 'I see you've put this shrimp into a situation'. Sorry I turned your pyrosome into a worm.

[quark-nova]

Ever wanted to ride a giant tube?

Behold, pyrosomes! Cousins of salps from my previous post, they are also superorganisms, but to the extreme. Each "tube" you see there is actually made of thousands of tiny organisms called zooids, all filtering water and pushing it towards the inside of the tube - in effect making it a giant underwater water slide!

They can get nearly 20 meters long, and are often bioluminescent! They're found in warm waters near the surface, all across the globe!

[rxttenfish]

currently debating about chapter 3 and if i should post the diagrams i have drawn of the giant pyrosome ship when that happens

[hidden-heavens]

The Archangels and Anu

Stay a While and Listen...

A lore post detailing the Archangels of this particular AU, and their God, Anu. Cut for length.

Anu: God of the angels, father and mother both. Anu are a hivemind of organisms forming a massive winged pyrosome. Their origins are shrouded in mystery; all that's truly known about them is that they're the progenitor of the angels and that they dwell in the deep heart of the Silver City, guarding the Arch and the nesting grounds around it. They cherish their children deeply.

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Archangel Inarius: The Aspect of Creation, Anu's First Note, Master of the Worldstone, Creator and Sculptor of Sanctuary. Such are Inarius' titles in this world, and he exercised them often. Unknown to many is that he also brought the Arch into being (although it was accidental). After the creation of land Inarius disappeared, never to be seen by his younger siblings again. Only Malthael knows the truth of his disappearance; the rest of the Council and all of angel-kind believe him either dead or lost in some form of madness.

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Archangel Malthael: The Aspect of Death and Wisdom, Master of Chalad'ar, Keeper of the Soulstone. As with most of his siblings, Malthael is representative of two aspects: the Major Aspect of Death and the Lesser Aspect of Wisdom. Born with Death in his nature, he's never gone mad in this timeline and is in perfect control of himself and his powers. Mortals haven't touched Chalad'ar and muddied its depths, but he holds little fondness for them after witnessing their tendency to take more than their fair share of the ocean's bounty. He is very attentive to the needs of Heaven as a whole, aware of the potential for chaos to take them or for the demons to attack at any moment. The only one of the Archangels to see mortals as prey.

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Archangel Itherael: Aspect of Fate, Reader of Talus'ar, Keeper of the Library of Fate, Oracle of the Heavens. Itherael may only have one aspect but Fate covers a wide spectrum of duties, and he is just as active as the others. Jellyfish-like in appearance, Itherael is known for their generally slow, almost hypnotising way of swimming. They're still very monotone, but have a tendency to fluoresce brightly when emotional. Retains his ability to manipulate space and time to teleport, an ability shared by their host. Finds humanity vaguely interesting since they can't see the Fates of mortals.

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Archangel Auriel: Aspect of Love and Hope, Siren Supreme. Despite her lack of titles, Auriel is no less powerful than her siblings and commands perhaps the greatest respect of them all, due to her no-nonsense attitude towards wrangling the Council. Perfectly willing to force through necessary changes. Often accompanied by a small entourage of angels whenever she ventures into the open ocean. Al'maiesh in this world is a literal part of her, two long squid-like tentacles that hang from her head and reach most of the way down her body. She regards humanity with curiosity, as do many of her host.

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Archangel Imperius: Aspect of War and Valor, Leader of the Armies of Heaven, Forgemaster of Heaven. Imperius is familiarly argumentative and stubborn to a fault, his spear Solarion always at the ready, and craves nothing more than a good fight. He's the master strategist of Heaven, but will take advice from Malthael and Auriel. Argues with Tyrael tirelessly, seeing such debates as a battle to be won. He shares Malthael's dislike of the mortals of Sanctuary, although he doesn't quite go so far as to declare them prey or to actively hunt them. 

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Archangel Tyrael: Aspect of Justice, Judge of Heaven, Lord of the Courts, Bearer of El'druin. He resides over the judgement of both angels who break the laws of Heaven and demonic prisoners with the assistance of representatives from each of the four Courts of Justice. He and Imperius argue over many topics. Smitten with humanity, Tyrael is known to often venture to the surface and walk amongst mortals - much to Malthael's distaste and secret fear.

[h3xactinellida]

Top 5 fucked up deep sea creatures

oo fun. just going with some that I can think of that I like. also these may not be exclusively deep sea, my apologies. I tried to be brief but still a long post bc photos are necessary.

pyrosomes

giant hollow sack. like what

giant tubeworms

they live in little tubes they build for themselves around hydrothermal vents (hot hot hot!)

not necessarily one in particular, but I love those swimmy worms. love it when my girls have skills and abilities. like to swim. lots of examples in this video

woag gif. aren’t they beautiful and talented

big fin squid

looks funny. that’s it

strawberry squid

they have beautiful skin and one crazy eye

[sipogophore]

I promise I'll post more fish facts soon I am but a tired soul, worn and broken by the struggles of day to day life

a small supplement: pyrosomes are apparently in the tunicate family which was thrilling news to me

[mg549]

pyrosomes are so goddamn weird like i love them

[rjzimmerman]

Watch this video for a few seconds. The video is 2:41 long, but you can get the idea by watching this strange creature creep around the ocean waters off New Zealand. Description from the Washington Post:

From the video, the amorphous blob seems to stretch on for a mile as it snakes through the water, dwarfing the two divers who surround it.

For 48-year-old videographer Steve Hathaway, the Oct. 25 sighting near a small, volcanic island about 30 miles off New Zealand’s northernmost point put an end to a search that lasted more than a decade.

“I’ve always wanted to see one,” Hathaway said in an interview Wednesday discussing the 26-foot-long pyrosome — a colony of tiny sea animals that link together into a free-floating mass. Their mysterious features and bioluminescent glow have caused some scientists to dub them the “bizarre unicorns of the sea. They reportedly feel “like an exquisitely soft feather boa.”

[nonbinary-nature-lover-jeri]

This unusual creature is actually a large community of organisms called a Pyrosome. From the Washington Post: “For 48-year-old videographer Steve Hathaway, the Oct. 25 sighting near a small, volcanic island about 30 miles off New Zealand’s northernmost point put an end to a search that lasted more than a decade. “I’ve always wanted to see one,” Hathaway said in an interview Wednesday discussing the 26-foot-long pyrosome — a colony of tiny sea animals that link together into a free-floating mass. Their mysterious features and bioluminescent glow have caused some scientists to dub them the “bizarre unicorns of the sea. They reportedly feel “like an exquisitely soft feather boa.”” From Wikipedia: “Pyrosomes, genus Pyrosoma, are free-floating colonial tunicates that live usually in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas, although some may be found at greater depths. Pyrosomes are cylindrical or cone-shaped colonies made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals, known as zooids. Colonies range in size from less than one centimeter to several metres in length. They are commonly called "sea pickles." Of the 2 nicknames I prefer Unicorns of the Sea although I think Narwhals have first claim on the title. Video Credit: Steve Hathaway and Andrew Buttle filmed a worm-like sea creature off the coast of White Island in New Zealand on Oct. 25. (Steve Hathaway and Andrew Buttle via Caters News) . #Pyrosome #Zooids #ColonyOfZooids #OceanLife #UnusualCreatures #Unusual https://www.instagram.com/p/BqTEVDKh4kV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nzs7am5l5m0a

[montereybayaquarium]

In yesterday's post—and perhaps on the beach—you met washed up "sea pickles." Introducing... *drumroll* PYROSOMES! 

These colonial filter-feeders invaded the coast in huge numbers last year, and they're members of a unique gelata group: the urochordates. As larvae, these animals have the beginnings of a spinal chord, making them some of the most vertebrate of the invertebrates!

Top photo: Sally at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Bottom photo: Living pyrosome off of Monterey by Michelle Manson

[quark-nova]

I realized I haven't made a post about larvaceans yet

And like really they're so cool they absolutely deserve it.

Okay so, basically, larvaceans are some of the closest cousins of vertebrates. Which says a lot, but still quite less than one would expect. They're part of the tunicate family, which also gave us sea squirts:

Not very vertebrate-like, admittedly. And salps, pyrosomes and doliolids, which can be described as the higher-budget remake of cnidarians that didn't do as well:

So, where did it all go wrong? And where do larvaceans fit into this?

Basically, tunicates and vertebrates are those siblings that used to work together, but split off after a big creative disagreement. We're both chordates - starting off with a notochord, a flexible rod running along the body - but that's where the similarities end.

We vertebrates decided to capitalize on the notochord, giving it its own armor set - the vertebral column, and ultimately an entire skeleton along with it. Meanwhile, tunicates scrapped the entire notochord thing past the larval stage, instead working on their new "brilliant" idea: cellulose armor, or, as their branding goes - the tunic.

Yep, that right. They're the only animals capable of synthesizing cellulose - one of the best materials across all biological kindgoms - and they ended up commiting a little too much to the bit, becoming cellulose sponge and cellulose jelly. And, in the process, losing any semblance of familiarity they once had.

Except for one.

You see, while sea squirts, salps and friends invested everything - even their own lives - in that new and dubious project, another group decided to be a little smarter about it. They wouldn't become cellulose monsters, no - they would use it as a building material, designing refined submarines to travel the oceans in.

Enter the larvacean.

Don't be mistaken - the larvacean is only the tadpole-like creature in the middle of the picture. The rest? Part of the elaborate filtration system of its submarine. Which also comes with directional fins, ventilation, and even an emergency exit while we're at it.

Now, the larvacean got everything right where its brothers got everything wrong. Keep the notochord - it's useful to avoid becoming a hapless blob floating in the middle of the ocean. Keep an air of familiarity - you've got a head, a tail, that's at least a decent basis for an animal. Basically, stick with the original body plan.

And then, build cool stuff. Like - spaceship level of cool stuff. And then leave it a few hours later and build another one, and repeat, because that's really all the fun.

Okay, so, you might be asking - how on Earth is that efficient? Why would any creature go to such lengths to build an elaborate spaceship often a meter long, just to abandon it every few hours?

The answer is: free food. Like - a ridiculous amount of free food. It turns out, larvaceans live in that layer of the ocean where organic stuff from above floats into. And, with the innovative larvacean technology, all of it can be scooped out into the submarine's filters, going directly into the creature's mouth.

And this process is absurdly effective - so much that larvaceans actually make up a massive portion of the deep ocean's life, scooping out all of the food coming from above. So much that their filters usually get clogged after a few hours. And, since they get so many organic materials as to basically be playing in creative mode, they can literally drop the whole thing and rebuild another house on the spot.

(Larvaceans are class Appendicularia here, in light blue. Oh yeah, forgot to mention they're bioluminescent too)

Oh, and you might be wondering - what happen to the myriad of discarded larvacean houses? Turns out they sink to the bottom of the ocean, with all the organic stuff caught inside - except, hopefully, for the larvacean itself. And that's actually the main way food and stuff from the surface gets to the abyss! (along with the more spectacular but much much rarer whalefalls)

And that's also the main way plastic also gets to the abyss. That's right, these creatures are the reason why we only find 1% of the plastic we throw away in the oceans - everything else gets packaged by larvaceans scooping around (turns out they can differentiate between plastic and food, they just don't care) and sent straight down to the abyss. They decided that our pollution wasn't their problem, and that they'll gladly send it to their downstair neighbours. Which should probably not be taken as the moral of this story, although I don't think they'd care either way.

[reekoscience]

New Post has been published on Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab

New Post has been published on http://reekoscience.com/science-resources/reekos-list-of-animal-classes-for-each-phylum-of-the-animal-kingdom

Reeko's list of animal classes for each phylum of the animal kingdom

Unknown phylum Micrognathozoa Acanthocephala (thorny-headed worms) Archiacanthocephala Eoacanthocephala Palaeacanthocephala (ancient thornheads) Acoelomorpha (simple soft-bodied flatworms) Acoela Nemertodermatida Annelida (segmented worms) Aelosomata Clitellata (earthworms) Myzostomida Polychaeta (bristle worms) Echiura (spoon worms) Sipuncula (peanut worms) Arthropoda (arthropods: insects, crustaceans, arachnids, centipedes, and millipedes) Chelicerata Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, and kin) Xiphosura (horseshoe crabs; only 4 extant species) Pycnogonida (sea spiders) Crustacea Branchiopoda (fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp, water fleas, and clam shrimp) Cephalocarida (horseshoe shrimp; only 12 described species) Malacostraca (crabs, lobsters, crayfish, krill, various shrimp, woodlice, and kin) Maxillopoda (barnacles, copepods, fish lice, and other groups) Ostracoda (seed shrimp) Remipedia Hexapoda Entognatha (coneheads, two-pronged bristletails and springtails) Insecta (insects) Myriapoda Chilopoda (centipedes) Diplopoda (millipedes) Pauropoda Symphyla (pseudocentipedes) Brachiopoda (“lamp shells”) Craniforma Rhynchonellata Bryozoa (moss animals) Gymnolaemata Phylactolaemata Stenolaemata Chaetognatha (arrow worms) Archisagittoidea Sagittoidea Chordata (vertebrates, tunicates, and lancelets) Cephalochordata Leptocardii (lancelet) Tunicata Appendicularia (larvaceans) Ascidiacea (sea squirts) Sorberacea Thaliacea (salps, pyrosomes, and doliolids) Vertebrata Agnatha Cyclostomata Myxini (hagfish) Petromyzontida (lamprey) Gnathostomata […]

[mrbobgove]

Swimming with Leatherback Turtles in Costa Rica

Costa Rica takes environmental stewardship seriously, protecting 26 percent of its land in some form of conservation. Visitors flock to the rainforests, volcanoes, beaches and of course dive sites. But during certain times of year the beaches host not only to human visitors, but also hundreds of nesting and hatching sea turtles.

Both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of the country attract various species, including green, hawksbill and olive ridley turtles. Leatherback turtles, however, are undeniably the most impressive. The largest of all the sea-turtle species can reach a gigantic 7 feet (2 m) in size. Leatherbacks can weigh up to 2,200 pounds (1000 kg). The individuals on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast are some of the largest on record.

Once the leatherbacks begin their ocean migrations, scientists have discovered that these turtles are one of the deepest divers of any marine creature, feeding on various species of jellyfish and pyrosomes. They also live quite long, with a life span of up to 100 years.

Leatherback nesting habits

Unlike most other marine turtles, leatherbacks don’t always return to the same hatching grounds year after year. In fact, female leatherbacks tend to lay their egg clutches around the same region of a specific area, but not the same beach. They seem to choose partially based on topography, preferring sandy to rocky beaches as rocks can easily damage their soft shells.

Visitors can observe nesting leatherbacks almost all year, depending on where they are. On the Caribbean side of the country, leatherbacks nest from March to July. On the Pacific side from September to March.

Las Tortugas Research Station on the Caribbean coast offers visitors the chance to peacefully interact with these giants as they come to and from the beach. Visitors cannot roam the beaches after 6 p.m. as most of the turtles lay their eggs after dark. For this reason, you must go with a guide as eggs and turtles are easily disturbed.

Swimming with leatherback sea turtles

In terms of swimming with the leatherbacks a huge amount of luck is involved. Yet if one is in the right place at the right time and respects the turtles and their nesting and hatching sites, the Costa Rican coasts doubtless the best place in the world to encounter these giants in their natural environment. Snorkeling off the coasts of Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast and Playa Grande on the Pacific will provide visitors their best chances of swimming with leatherbacks.

The post Swimming with Leatherback Turtles in Costa Rica appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.

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[vaiyulaw]

Fish in a Pyrosome  Part of my weekly adventure is to enjoy Black water diving. That is, diving at night in the Gulf Stream current, to photograph bizarre creatures rarely seen. I am truly amazed by the brilliant colors and odd animals that I find. Here we have a pyrosome-a group of free-floating colonial tunicates that live in the ocean in warmer waters. There is a synergy and symbiosis between animals in the ocean- here fish have found shelter in this tube like creature.  Originally posted at http://bit.ly/2sCYcVj