Just an Eerie Bioluminescent Deep-Sea Siphonophore (VIDEO)

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Here is some video of a bioluminescent deep-sea siphonophore!

It’s an eerily fantastic creature that appears to be a single, large organism, but which is actually a colony of numerous individual jellyfish-like animals that behave and function together as a single entity.

The individual units, called zooids, all share the same genetic material, and each performs a specialized role within the colony.

Last September, a deep-sea purple siphonophore was spotted by scientists.

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Raskoff/ NOAA

The best-known siphonophore is the poisonous Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis), which lives at the surface of the ocean. In contrast, the terrifying creature in the video was filmed at a depth of 770 meters.

Some siphonophore species can grow up to 40 meters (130 ft) in length.

Discover more bioluminescent underwater creatures.

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