Bathyphysa conifera explained

Bathyphysa conifera, sometimes called the flying spaghetti monster, is a bathypelagic species of siphonophore in the family Rhizophysidae. It is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Southwestern Africa and California.

Name

Bathyphysa conifera was nicknamed the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for the satirical deity of the Internet, by the oil workers who first saw it.[1] The specific epithet conifera, meaning 'cone-bearing',[2] is due to the shape of the cluster of reproductive structures called gonophores. In Japanese it is called Japanese: マガタマニラ[3] / Japanese: まがたまにら / Japanese: 勾玉韮 , "jewel leek". In Chinese, the nickname "Flying Spaghetti Monster" can be translated as Chinese: 飞行的面条怪兽 "flying noodles monster".[4]

Distribution

Bathyphysa conifera has been found in the Northeast[5] and Northwest Atlantic Ocean,[6] off the coast of Gabon[7] [8] and as far south as Angola,[9] [10] and in Monterey Bay in the Pacific Ocean.[11] It has been found in warm temperatures.[12]

Description

Although B. conifera may appear to be an individual organism, each specimen is in fact a colonial organism composed of medusoid and polypoid zooids that are morphologically and functionally specialized. Zooids are multicellular units that develop from a single fertilized egg and combine to create functional colonies able to: reproduce, digest, float, and maintain body positioning.[13]

It has a cystonect body plan,[14] meaning it has a pneumatophore, or float, and siphosome, or line of polyps, but no nectosome, or propulsion medusae.[15] Without that propulsion, B. conifera moves through contracting and relaxing the body stem.[13] It differs from members of the genus Rhizophysa by the presence of ptera, or side "wings", on the young gastrozooids, or feeding polyps.[16] [10] It is distinct from other members of the genus Bathyphysa as its tentacles do not have any side branches, or tentilla.[10] [13] Tentilla are thought to be ancestral to siphonophores, and B. conifera likely lost the trait as did Apolemia.[17] [13] The tentacles have stinging cells called nematocysts that are haploneme, or uniform in thickness, and have a single size of isorhiza, or anchoring nematocysts.[17]

The entire animal, including tentacles, is several meters long.[10] The feeding polyps are pink when young, before developing tentacles.[10] A mature feeding polyp is yellow with a single tentacle.[10]

Colonies are unisexual,[10] and reproduce by incomplete asexual reproduction.[13] Not much more is known about B. conifera reproduction. Early development of cystonects is not known either.[18] Siphonophores generally start life as a single-celled zygote, which divided and grows into a single polyp called a protozooid.[18] [13] The protozooid then divides by budding into all the zooids of the colony.[18] The zooids are homologous to individual animals, but are connected physiologically to each other.[13]

Ecology

Like many siphonophores,[19] it is carnivorous.[13] The typical siphonophore diet consists of a variety of copepods, small crustaceans, and small fish. B. conifera has been observed eating a lanternfish.[11]

A species of manefish in the genus Caristius associates apparently mutualistically with B. conifera, using it for shelter, stealing meals, and perhaps nibbling on its host as well, yet protecting it from amphipod parasites like Themisto.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Feltman . Rachel . This deep sea creature looks just like the Flying Spaghetti Monster . . 11 August 2015 . 26 September 2022 . 12 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211212113232/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/08/11/this-deep-sea-creature-looks-just-like-the-flying-spaghetti-monster/ . live .
  2. Web site: Dictionary of Botanical Epithets . Griffith . Chuck . 2005 . Dictionary of Botanical Epithets . English . 5 September 2017 . conifer conifera coniferum cone bearing conus con noun/m κωνοϛ cone i i cnct connective vowel used by botanical Latin fer fer apar fero to bear, carry, bring . https://web.archive.org/web/20170919225828/http://www.winternet.com/~chuckg/dictionary/dictionary.66.html . 19 September 2017 . live .
  3. Web site: Bathyphysa conifera – Biological Information System for Marine Life . . 2009 . Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL) . Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology . Japan . English . 1 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091024/http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/bismal/e/view/9017123 . 6 September 2017 . live.
  4. Web site: http://news.163.com/15/0813/10/B0T4BRKI00014JB5.html . zh:非洲海岸现不明深海生物 被取名"飞行面条怪兽" . 王晓易 . 沈姝华 . zh . 2015-08-13 . 163.com . 2 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170906092943/http://news.163.com/15/0813/10/B0T4BRKI00014JB5.html . 6 September 2017 .
  5. Book: 2001 . Ctenophora . Costello . Mark J. . Emblow . Chris . White . Richard . European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification . Patrimoines Naturels . English . 50 . Paris . Muséum national d'histoire naturelle . 2001 . 122 . 978-2-85653-538-7 . 1281-6213 . Order Cystonectae Family Physaliidae Family Rhizophysidae Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878) A . 2292/19517 .
  6. Book: Cairns. Stephen D. . Calder. Dale R. . Brinckmann-Voss. Anita. Castro. Clovis B. . Fautin. Daphne G. . Pugh . Philip R. . Mills. Claudia E.. Jaap . Walter C. . Arai . Mary N.. Haddock . Steven H. D. . Steven Haddock . Opresko . Dennis M.. Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Cnidaria and Ctenophora . 2002. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland. 978-1-888569-39-1. 29, 61. Second. en . 0097-0638.
  7. Book: Leloup . Eugène . Expédition Océanographique Belge dans les Eaux Côtiëres Africaines de l'Atlantique Sud . Siphonophores . 247945591 . 1955 . Bruxelles . Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique . 17 . 19 March 2020 . fr . 3 . 4 . 19 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200319032706/http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/328138.pdf . live .
  8. Book: Capart . André . Expédition océanographique belge dans les eaux côtières africaines de l'Atlantique Sud (1948-1949): résultats scientifiques, 1(annex) . 1951 . Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique . Bruxelles . 46 . fr . 769917737 . 1 . 2022-09-26 . 2021-12-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211202174037/http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/236371.pdf . live .
  9. Jones, Daniel O.B., Gates, A.R., Curry, R.A., Thomson, M., Pile, A., Benfield, M. (Eds) (2009). SERPENT project. Media database archive. Available online at http://archive.serpentproject.com/2621/ accessed on Fri Sep 01 2017
  10. Jones . Daniel O. B. . Pugh . Philip R. . First sighting of a siphonophore of the genus Bathyphysa from the South Atlantic . Marine Biodiversity . September 2018 . 48 . 3 . 1279–1280 . 10.1007/s12526-016-0611-1 . Springer . 2018MarBd..48.1279J . 35050977 . en . 1867-1624 . 6889763134.
  11. Web site: Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878) . Deep-Sea Guide (DSG) . Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) . 19 March 2020 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20200319010914/http://dsg.mbari.org/dsg/view/concept/Bathyphysa%20conifera . 19 March 2020 . live .
  12. Mapstone . Gill M. . Diosdado . Gilberto . Guerrero . Elena . 2021-01-08 . First shallow record of Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878) (Siphonophora, Cystonectae), a live specimen in the Strait of Gibraltar. Worldwide species distribution review . Mediterranean Marine Science . en . 22 . 1 . 51–58 . 10.12681/mms.23575 . 1791-6763. free . 10261/238852 . free .
  13. Munro. Catriona. Siebert. Stefan. Zapata. Felipe. Howison. Mark. Damian Serrano. Alejandro. Church. Samuel H.. Goetz. Freya E.. Pugh. Philip R.. Haddock. Steven H.D.. Dunn. Casey W.. 2018-01-20. Improved phylogenetic resolution within Siphonophora (Cnidaria) with implications for trait evolution. en. 10.1101/251116.
  14. Janssen . John . Gibbs Jr. . Robert H. . Pugh . Phil R. . 27 February 1989 . Association of Caristius sp. (Pisces: Caristiidae) with a siphonophore, Bathyphysa conifera . Copeia . English . 27 February 1989 . 1989 . 1 . 198–201 . 10.2307/1445624 . 1445624 .
  15. Web site: Siphonophores: Body Plan . Casey . Dunn . Siphonophores . 2 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170822225004/http://www.siphonophores.org/SiphPlan.php . 22 August 2017 . live .
  16. Web site: 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' Caught on Camera off Coast of Angola. . 15 August 2015. Sci-News.com. English. 1 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170817080007/http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-bathyphysa-conifera-angola-03132.html. 17 August 2017. live.
  17. Damian-Serrano . Alejandro . Haddock . Steven H.D. . Dunn . Casey W. . The Evolution of Siphonophore Tentilla as Specialized Tools for Prey Capture . bioRxiv . 12 June 2019 . 653345 . 10.1101/653345 . 19 March 2020 . en . https://web.archive.org/web/20200212020139/https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/653345v1 . 12 February 2020 . live . free .
  18. Web site: Dunn . Casey . Siphonophores - Life Cycle . Siphonophores . 29 March 2020 . en . 16 February 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200216063914/http://www.siphonophores.org/SiphLifeCycle.php . live .
  19. Web site: Pelagic Siphonophore. Pacific. Aquarium of the. www.aquariumofpacific.org. en. 2020-03-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018212059/http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/pelagic_siphonophore. 2019-10-18. live.

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