Bizarre 150ft-wide sea creature with ‘stinging stringy tentacles’ spotted off the Australian coast

‘Long stringy stingy thingy’: Bizarre glowing tentacle-like creature made up of THOUSANDS of tiny organisms is spotted off the coast of Australia

  • Creature is believed to be a siphonophore which looks like a single animal 
  • It is thought the outer ring has a circumference of 150ft (47metres)
  • It has stinging tentacles and is made of millions of individual organisms known as zooids 

A bizarre glowing tentacle-like ‘creature’ has been spotted floating in waters off the coast of Australia. 

It is believed to be a siphonophore, which appears to be a single animal but is actually made of thousands of smaller organisms known as zooids.

It is known as a ‘long stringy stingy thingy’ in New Zealand and it is also sometimes called Apolemia or a string jellyfish. 

Video of the unusual creature was posted to Twitter by Schmidt Ocean Institute.

It is thought that the siphonophore’s outer ring has a circumference of around 150ft (47metres).  

An unusual giant creature made up of dozens of stinging tentacles has been spotted off the coast of Australia. The beast (pictured) is believed to be a siphonophore

‘The whole thing looks like one animal, but it’s many thousands of individuals which form an entity on a higher level,’ marine biologist Stefan Siebert of Brown University told Wired.

Each individual zooid acts like an organ in the larger siphonophore body and has a different function. 

Some have stinging tentacles while others have red lures to attract food.

A team of researchers on Ningaloo Canyons Expedition were studying the marine environment around Western Australia when they encountered the sea creature. 

The region is known to have a diverse range of life but little is known about the area due to a lack of research.   

A team of researchers on Ningaloo Canyons Expedition were studying the marine environment around Western Australia when they encountered the sea creature. The region is known to have a diverse range of life but little is known about the area due to a lack of research

A team of researchers on Ningaloo Canyons Expedition were studying the marine environment around Western Australia when they encountered the sea creature. The region is known to have a diverse range of life but little is known about the area due to a lack of research

The siphonophore is known as a 'long stringy stingy thingy' in New Zealand and it is also sometimes called Apolemia or a string jellyfish

The siphonophore is known as a ‘long stringy stingy thingy’ in New Zealand and it is also sometimes called Apolemia or a string jellyfish

Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and sonar were being used to study the region.

When the ROV was on the way back to the surface its cameras spotted the bizarre beast.  

‘Everyone was blown away when it came into view,’ biologists Nerida Wilson and Lisa Kirkendale from the Western Australian Museum told ScienceAlert. 

‘There was a lot of excitement. People came pouring into the control room from all over the ship. Siphonophores are commonly seen but this one was both large and unusual-looking.

‘Although the ROV pilots made an estimate of its length, it has yet to be formally measured. 

‘However, it does appear to be longer than any other animal on the planet.’

In January, footage emerged of another siphonophore. 

The benthic siphonophore, seemingly a single animal, is dubbed a ‘floating city’ of many smaller organisms working together. 

It’s so rarely seen that hardly any information exists for the creature, which is related to corals and jellyfish and thought to live at depths of up to 10,000ft (3,000m). 

Scientists stumbled across the rare animal after trawling through shallow waters off the coast of Australia with submerged cameras. 

The benthic siphonophore, seemingly a single animal, is actually a 'floating city' of many smaller organisms working together (pictured)

The benthic siphonophore, seemingly a single animal, is actually a ‘floating city’ of many smaller organisms working together (pictured)



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