Bathyphysa conifera

Bathyphysa conifera, sometimes called the flying spaghetti monster, is a bathypelagic[3] species of siphonophore in the family Rhizophysidae.

This article is about the species of siphonophore. For the deity, see Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Bathyphysa conifera
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Siphonophorae
Family: Rhizophysidae
Genus: Bathyphysa
Species:
B. conifera
Binomial name
Bathyphysa conifera
Studer, 1878[2]
Synonyms[3]

Name

Bathyphysa conifera was nicknamed the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for the satirical deity of the Internet, by the oil workers who first saw it.[6] The specific epithet conifera, meaning 'cone-bearing',[7] is due to the shape of the cluster of reproductive structures called gonophores.[2] In Japanese it is called マガタマニラ[3][8] / まがたまにら / 勾玉韮[4] magatamanira, "jewel leek". In Chinese it can be called 飞行的面条怪兽 fēixíng de miàntiáo guàishòu "flying noodles monster".[9]

Distribution

B. conifera has been found in the Northeast[10] and Northwest Atlantic Ocean,[11] off the coast of Gabon[12][13] and as far south as Angola,[14][15] and in Monterey Bay in the Pacific Ocean.[16][3]

Description
Close-up of B. conifera

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.[17] 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.[18]

It has a cystonect body plan,[19] meaning it has a pneumatophore, or float, and siphosome, or line of polyps, but no nectosome, or propulsion medusae.[20] Without that propulsion, B. conifera moves through contracting and relaxing the body stem.[18] It differs from members of the genus Rhizophysa by the presence of ptera, or side 'wings', on the young gastrozooids, or feeding polyps.[21][14][15] It is distinct from other members of the genus Bathyphysa as its tentacles do not have any side branches, or tentilla.[19][21][14][15][18] Tentilla are thought to be ancestral to siphonophores, and B. conifera likely lost the trait as did Apolemia.[22][18] The tentacles have stinging cells called nematocysts that are haploneme, or uniform in thickness, and have a single size of isorhiza, or anchoring nematocysts.[22]

The entire animal, including tentacles, is several meters long.[15] The feeding polyps are pink when young, before developing tentacles.[15] A mature feeding polyp is yellow with a single tentacle.[15]

Colonies are unisexual,[15] and reproduce by incomplete asexual reproduction.[18] Not much more is known about B. conifera reproduction. Early development of cystonects is not known either.[23] Siphonophores generally start life as a single-celled zygote, which divided and grows into a single polyp called a protozooid.[23][18] The protozooid then divides by budding into all the zooids of the colony.[23] The zooids are homologous to individual animals, but are connected physiologically to each other.[18]

Ecology

Like many siphonophores,[17] it is carnivorous.[3][18] The typical siphonophore diet consists of a variety of copepods, small crustaceans, and small fish.[17] B. conifera has been observed eating a lanternfish.[16]

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.[19]

References
  1. "Bathyphysa conifera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2017. This taxon has not yet been assessed for the IUCN Red List, but is in the Catalogue of Life: Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878)
  2. Studer, Théophile Rudolphe (13 July 1878). von Siebold, Carl Theodor; von Kölliker, Albert; Ehlers, Ernst (eds.). "Ueber Siphonophoren des tiefen Wassers" [About siphonophores of deep water]. Zeitschrift für Wissenschaftliche Zoologie (in German). 31: 4–14.
  3. Schuchert, P.; Mapstone, G. (2013). Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878). In: Schuchert, P. (2017). World Hydrozoa database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=135480 Archived 2016-10-07 at the Wayback Machine on 2017-09-01
  4. 山田真弓. "マガタマニラ". コトバンク (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun Company / VOYAGE GROUP, Inc. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017. マガタマニラ まがたまにら / 勾玉韮 [学]Bathyphysa grimaldi
  5. Prince of Monaco, Albert I; Guerne, Jules de; Richard, Jules (20 July 1904). "RHIZOPHYSALIÆ Bathyphysa grimaldii Bedot" (pdf). Résultats des Campagnes Scientifiques Accomplies Sur Son Yacht Par Albert Ier, Prince Souverain de Monaco (in French). 27 Siphonophores Provenant des Campagnes du Yacht Princesse-Alice (1892–1902): 16. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.2169. OCLC 14588383. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  6. Feltman, Rachel (11 August 2015). "This deep sea creature looks just like the Flying Spaghetti Monster". The Washington Post.
  7. Griffith, Chuck (2005). "Dictionary of Botanical Epithets". Dictionary of Botanical Epithets. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 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
  8. "Bathyphysa conifera – Biological Information System for Marine Life". Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL). Japan: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. 2009. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  9. 沈姝华 (2015-08-13). 王晓易_NE0011 (ed.). "Bathyphysa conifera". 163.com (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  10. Costello, Mark J.; Emblow, Chris; White, Richard, eds. (2001). "Ctenophora". European register of marine species : a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50. Paris: Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. p. 122. hdl:2292/19517. ISBN 978-2-85653-538-7. ISSN 1281-6213. Order Cystonectae Family Physaliidae Family Rhizophysidae Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878) A
  11. 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.; Opresko, Dennis M. (2002). Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Cnidaria and Ctenophora. Special Publication - American Fisheries Society. American Fisheries Society Special Publications. 28 (Second ed.). Bethesda, Maryland: American Fisheries Society. pp. 29, 61. ISBN 978-1888569391. ISSN 0097-0638.
  12. Leloup, Eugène (1955). Expédition Océanographique Belge dans les Eaux Côtiëres Africaines de l'Atlantique Sud (1948-1949): Larve de cérianthaire - Siphonophores - Crustacés décapodes, Pagurides - Some Opisthobranchs from West Africa - Alcyonaires Atlantique intertropicaux III(4) (PDF) (in French). 3. Bruxelles. p. 17. OCLC 247945591. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  13. Capart, André (1951). Expédition océanographique belge dans les eaux côtières africaines de l'Atlantique Sud (1948-1949): résultats scientifiques, 1(annex) (PDF) (in French). 1. Bruxelles: Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique. p. 46. OCLC 769917737.
  14. 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/ Archived 2017-06-25 at the Wayback Machine accessed on Fri Sep 01 2017
  15. Jones, Daniel O. B.; Pugh, Philip R. (September 2018). "First sighting of a siphonophore of the genus Bathyphysa from the South Atlantic". Marine Biodiversity. Springer. 48 (3): 1279–1280. doi:10.1007/s12526-016-0611-1. ISSN 1867-1624. OCLC 6889763134. S2CID 35050977.
  16. "Bathyphysa conifera (Studer, 1878)". Deep-Sea Guide (DSG). Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  17. Pacific, Aquarium of the. "Pelagic Siphonophore". www.aquariumofpacific.org. Archived from the original on 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  18. 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". bioRxiv 10.1101/251116.
  19. Janssen, John; Gibbs Jr., Robert H.; Pugh, Phil R. (27 February 1989). "Association of Caristius sp. (Pisces: Caristiidae) with a siphonophore, Bathyphysa conifera". Copeia. 1989 (1): 198–201. doi:10.2307/1445624. JSTOR 1445624.
  20. Dunn, Casey. "Siphonophores: Body Plan". Siphonophores. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  21. "'Flying Spaghetti Monster' Caught on Camera off Coast of Angola". Sci-News.com. Sci-News.com. 15 August 2015. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  22. Damian-Serrano, Alejandro; Haddock, Steven H.D.; Dunn, Casey W. (12 June 2019). "The Evolution of Siphonophore Tentilla as Specialized Tools for Prey Capture". bioRxiv: 653345. doi:10.1101/653345. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  23. Dunn, Casey. "Siphonophores - Life Cycle". Siphonophores. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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