May 08 2012

I want to just cuddle with it

Categories:

Organisms

by PZ Myers

Put this video on full screen and sit back and savor the under-appreciated weirdness found in our oceans.

(If I had to guess, it looks like a deep sea jellyfish to me.)

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56 comments

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1

Glen Davidson

8 May 2012 at 10:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Clearly it’s a person’s spirit during a NDE just hanging out in the ocean.

Or if not, why don’t they do that? Yay, I’m free of my body, can go anywhere, I’m going off to see the hospital roof…

Glen Davidson
2

Ichthyic

8 May 2012 at 10:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

hmm, I don’t think jellyfish.

symmetry seems wrong, plus it appears to have the ability to finely manipulate the edges of the membrane.

I’m going with a mollusk.

to me, it looks like some sort of giant pelagic snail, with internalized shell.

the membrane looks to me like an extended mantle; and is manipulated like I have seen pelagic nudibranchs do.

still, I can’t recall ever seeing anything quite like it before.
3

Ichthyic

8 May 2012 at 10:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I saw the reddit comments saying this was a whale placenta…

hmm, looks reactive to me, with distinct edges, and also a distinct center. Moreover, it has a hexagonal pattern to the membrane.

I can’t recall ever seeing a placenta with a hexagonal pattern to it.
4

katkinkate

8 May 2012 at 10:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The hexagonal pattern mentioned above made me think of fishing net. Are we sure this thing is alive and not just reacting to water currents around what the camera is mounted on?
5

Cipher, OM

8 May 2012 at 10:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

How big is it?
Also, I felt a genuine little stab of sadness when it went out of view of the camera. :( Come back, sea monster!
6

Ichthyic

8 May 2012 at 10:42 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Are we sure this thing is alive and not just reacting to water currents around what the camera is mounted on?

it sure looks like it is reactive to me. would have to be several different artificial currents being generated from different directions, because at 5000 ft, your average natural current is pretty damn slow (like max 2cm/sec).
7

Pteryxx

8 May 2012 at 10:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The camera-thing itself likely generates strong currents with its maneuvering engines.

IMHO, the symmetrical squiggly bits near the end sure seem jellyfish-like to me.
8

katkinkate

8 May 2012 at 10:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

One of the comments at Youtube say it is Stygiomedusa gigantea.
9

magistramarla

8 May 2012 at 10:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I have a question for PZ – Sir, have you ever visited the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium? If not, come visit me and see it. It would be “right down your alley”. When my grandson visited, I even paid extra for him to be in The Young Ocean Explorers Club, so that he got to have a scuba diving lesson in the tidal pool behind the aquarium – again, right down your alley – hmmm?
10

sezme

8 May 2012 at 10:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

At about 3:20 I saw Jahsus!
11

Ichthyic

8 May 2012 at 10:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

stygiomedusa?

HMMMM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2NLFKPnxfo

judge for yourself.
12

tbtabby

8 May 2012 at 10:58 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I don’t know if it’s a jellyfish. I didn’t see any tentacles on it.
13

silverbuttons

8 May 2012 at 11:09 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That’s just about the weirdest underwater critter I’ve ever seen! What does it eat? HOW does it eat? There doesn’t appear to be mouth parts. Or is that what the whitish-looking organs are?
14

wytchy

8 May 2012 at 11:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It looks like an animated sheet of softness. I just want to run my fingers over it. What a weird creature…
15

jacode bruyn

8 May 2012 at 11:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

According to the youtube comments Reddit eventually figured it out as a
16

jacode bruyn

8 May 2012 at 11:44 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Dammit, got the anchor tag wrong. Deepstaria enigmatica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepstaria_enigmatica
17

clastum3

8 May 2012 at 11:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

..well, I was going to guess a supermarket plastic bag, but I haven’t seen to the end yet.
Is the depth (DPT) really in feet? How retro!
18

Chris Booth

9 May 2012 at 12:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Oooooh! Its an Amorphous Cuttle-Jelly! I saw those on Titan!
19

Markita Lynda—damn climate change!

9 May 2012 at 12:10 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I wanted them to pull back the view so I could see if it was symmetrical, if it was going in any direction, and such.

“Deepstaria always seem to have an isopod inside them.”

So it’s a large gelatinous jellyfish-like thing that closes its bell around its food instead of grabbing it with tendrils.

Original description.
20

microraptor

9 May 2012 at 12:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The distinctive, regular hexagonal pattern on it makes it seem more like a manufactured object than an animal.
21

Atticus Dogsbody

9 May 2012 at 12:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Look carefully at 1:36 – 1:39. I think we need to call in some ancient alien researchers.
22

Rick

9 May 2012 at 12:31 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

fascinating! The ROV that shot the images is from that same company that provided ROV support during the Deep Water Horizon spill.
We spent so much time watching that we had given them all names.
Here’s a link to an image of their Logo T-shirt that one of our watchers received from them
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss29/RikRay/OceaneeringROV.jpg

The ROV operators were heroes in that disaster. Also, anyone happen to catch the depth there, 5225ft. Zowie!

One last thought. Given the variety, and incredible weirdness of some life on this planet, when some one claims man was created in po6′s image that’s all well and good. However, when I see something like that I really want to know, WHAT THE FUCK WAS IT THINKING? I can’t believe that an intelligent designer would come up with shit like that (or anything else). Come on, what was the inspiration for that!?
23

rowanvt

9 May 2012 at 1:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It looks like living fabric. That is one of the most amasing things I have ever seen!
24

christophburschka

9 May 2012 at 1:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I just want to cuddle with it

It’s a cuddlefish!
25

leeharrison

9 May 2012 at 2:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

“The distinctive, regular hexagonal pattern on it makes it seem more like a manufactured object than an animal.”

Look a bit closer – the pattern’s not that regular and a lot of those hexagons are actually pentagons, allowing what would otherwise be a flat sheet to curve.

Anyway, I very very rarely comment, but I just wanted to say, “That was fucking awesome”. So: that was fucking awesome. Thanks PZ.
26

petermagellan

9 May 2012 at 2:25 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Could be a critter, I guess, but I have to say it looks like a big piece of tripe drifting in a current (prop wash/slipstream from the camera platform?) to me. Remains of a predator’s meal, perhaps?
27

helenkrummenacker

9 May 2012 at 2:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I didn’t know Dementors could dive that deep.
28

pentatomid

9 May 2012 at 2:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’m going with the Deepstaria-like jellyfish hypothesis.
29

Majst0r

9 May 2012 at 3:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Could it be Pseudorhiza haeckeli? The hexagonal pattern and the protruding “thingy” seem to match some of the photos I’ve seen. The color and depth are off though.
30

carpenterman

9 May 2012 at 5:58 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I greatly admire scientists. Their fascination with the unknown, their pursuit of knowledge. The range of comments here represents a laudible search for truth.
But as a land animal, I’m just going to go with “AAAAHHHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??!! AAAAIIIEEEEEE!”
Sorry, but really, that’s all I’ve got.
31

richardh

9 May 2012 at 6:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Is the depth (DPT) really in feet? How retro!

Is the date really in traditional American? How retro!
32

Naked Bunny with a Whip

9 May 2012 at 7:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@carpenterman: You’ll be seeing it in your sleep now.
33

sc_d4e1ad9f8b2234f2307517e0f26175a6

9 May 2012 at 8:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Not sure it’s a jellyfish either. Colonial tunicate of some sort? Would be cool if it was something entirely new. The reproductive or digestive organs visible toward the end might possibly be radially symmetrical which could indicate a jellyfish. But the hexagons are just weird, and the motion is weird, and I haven’t a glue. I can imagine bringing somethng like that to the surface intact would be impossible.
34

rickschauer

9 May 2012 at 8:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I think we could name it: Pzelususarus
35

pentatomid

9 May 2012 at 9:13 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

But the hexagons are just weird, and the motion is weird, and I haven’t a glue.

The (roughly) hexagonal pattern would actually be consistent with something like Deepstaria enigmatica. I haven’t found really good photographs of Deepstaria, but this one seems good enough to illustrate it:
http://roadlonglifeshort.blogspot.com/2008/01/its-friday.html

The motion is probably unusual because of currents caused by the ROV.
36

ChasCPeterson

9 May 2012 at 10:01 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Yes, it’s got to be Deepstaria or something a lot like it. The hexagonal patterning is what nails it as cnidarian: that’s the nerve net. This thing evidently has a very thin bell (not much mesoglea) and relatively large neurons.
The whale-placenta idea is laughable.
37

Brony

9 May 2012 at 10:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@ Ichthyic 3, katkinkat 4, microraptor 20, leeharrison 25, Majst0r 29, sc_d4e1ad9f8b2234f2307517e0f26175a6 33, pentatomid 35

You are all looking at nerve nets making it either a Cnidaria or a Ctenophora. Since I have never heard of a flat comb-jelly I’m going with really cool jellyfish…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnidaria#Nervous_system_and_senses

My summer project involves the evolution of brains :)
38

microraptor

9 May 2012 at 11:39 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

All right, then.

I freely admit my lack of expertise with cnidarians.
39

jonathanmartin

9 May 2012 at 12:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Commenter Pentatomid, thanks for the great comparison link; The photo of Deepstaria in my Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates book is a screen grab from an older video, so those are a huge improvement. I didn’t initially think it was a jellyfish either, but around 4:46 in the video you get to see the mouth on its long, pendulous manubrium hanging from the center. From the base of the mouth, you can see the extensions of the gut radiating symmetrically outwards, where they meet the gonads (the white masses). This is a great diagnostic to identify it as a jellyfish, whatever the shape of the bell.
40

pipenta

9 May 2012 at 12:50 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

First glimpse and I thought, some kind of monster ctenophore. Watching a bit more, I thought mollusk. Then I wondered if it might be a mondo salp. But then I went back to mollusk, albeit uncertainly.

Smarter folks than me are making convincing arguments for a determination destination in the land of jellyfish and I’m buying it.

Whatever manner of beast, it made my day.
41

cameronmccormick

9 May 2012 at 1:51 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Another image of Deepstaria enigmatica/a> – I’d say the case seems pretty strong.
42

fastlane

9 May 2012 at 3:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Holy shit, it’s a Cloaker!
43

procyon

9 May 2012 at 3:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

It’s obviously one of the deep sea life forms from The Abyss
44

Markr1957

9 May 2012 at 5:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’m going with an underwater cousin of Black Bag, the Faithful Border Bin-liner of Viz fame, which was in turn a spoof on Black Bob, the Faithful Border Collie of Dandy fame, who was of course a low-rent copy of Lassie :)

If you don’t know those characters or comics ask your nearest Brit.
45

WMDKitty

9 May 2012 at 7:11 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Never thought I’d see a Lethifold.
46

livingwithmormons

9 May 2012 at 7:24 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

“Don’t put your lips on it!”
47

Ichthyic

9 May 2012 at 7:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

You are all looking at nerve nets making it either a Cnidaria or a Ctenophora.

however, it does not appear to have radial symmetry; looks more bilateral.

plus, what are the white organs in the center area? look like what I would expect nudibranch gills to look like.
48

Ichthyic

9 May 2012 at 7:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Another image of Deepstaria enigmatica/a> – I’d say the case seems pretty strong.

hmm, yeah, that does seem to fit pretty well; it’s just that even in the diagram, that animal looks to have radial symetry, while the one in the vid appears to be bilateral.

could be just the angles, I suppose.
49

Ichthyic

9 May 2012 at 8:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

where they meet the gonads (the white masses)

ah.

color me convinced then.
50

epitope

9 May 2012 at 9:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The original description of Deepstaria engimatica from 1967 has good pictures, and comments on the mesh-like pattern.

Russell, F.S. (1967) On a remarkable new scyphomedusan. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 47 (3). pp. 469-473.
http://sabella.mba.ac.uk/2457/

“The radial canal system is most striking. It consists of a meshwork, likened by Dr Barham to wire-netting. The meshes are elongated radially and the whole system leads outwards to the umbrella margin.”
51

A. R

9 May 2012 at 9:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I’m for Deepstaria enigmatica or D. reticulum. Granted, that’s a virologist’s (admittedly much researched) opinion, so take with a grain of NaCl.
52

jamesevans

10 May 2012 at 11:03 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

@livingwithmormons: HA!
53

gravityisjustatheory

10 May 2012 at 5:20 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I can’t watch it. I just get a “This video is private.
Sorry about that” message when I click play.
54

Blizno

10 May 2012 at 7:52 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I have identified it.

It is the larval form of one of these:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BTWx9uY2vpU/Th5GkXAeyPI/AAAAAAAAAa8/rm6HEDAbHD4/s1600/LadyCassandraDoctorWho.jpg
55

evader

10 May 2012 at 10:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Where is Sir Richard Dawkins?!

Surely he would know what that thing is?

The hexagonal cells looked really interesting, in fact, everything did. The creature seemed to be putting on a display for the camera.

Sucks that all movie aliens are stupid f–king “greys”, and not like this crazy mofo. Hollywood, try a little harder… Or at least get Neil deBoss Tyson in on your character design!
56

John Phillips, FCD

12 May 2012 at 11:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

A bit late catching up with Pharyngula, but thanks PZ, that made my day, wow, very wow. Oh FSM, how I love this planet.