Apolemia

Apolemia is a genus of siphonophores. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Apolemiidae.[1]

Apolemia
Apolemia uvaria
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Hydrozoa
Order: Siphonophorae
Suborder: Physonectae
Family: Apolemiidae
Huxley, 1859
Genus: Apolemia
Eschscholtz, 1829
Species

See text

Despite appearing to be a single multicellular organism, they are actually a floating colony of polyps and medusoids, collectively known as zooids.

Species

The following species are classified within the genus Apolemia Eschscholtz, 1829:[2]

  • Apolemia contorta sensu (Margulis, 1976)
  • Apolemia lanosa (Siebert, Pugh, Haddock & Dunn, 2013)
  • Apolemia rubriversa (Siebert, Pugh, Haddock & Dunn, 2013)
  • Apolemia uvaria (Lesueur, 1815)
  • Apolemia vitiazi (Stepanjants, 1967)

Former genera

These two genera are now considered synonymous with Apolemia.[1]

  • Ramosia Stepanjants, 1967
  • Tottonia Margulis, 1976

Notable

In 2020 researchers working off the coast of Western Australia came across an Apolemia which had coiled itself into a spiral form. The outer "ring" was estimated to be 47 meters (154 feet) long,[3] with an estimated total length of 119 meters (390 feet).[4] This would make it longer than any other animal on the planet, if one includes colonial animals, although individuals of the lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) are known to be nearly as large; the largest known specimen of the latter had tentacles as long as 37 m (121 ft) and was projected to have a tentacular spread of about 75 m (246 ft), making it one of the longest extant non-colonial animals.[5]

References
  1. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Apolemiidae Huxley, 1859". Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  2. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Apolemia Eschscholtz, 1829". Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  3. Koumoundouros, Tessa. "What The Heck Is This Long, Hypnotic Stringy Thing Floating in The Ocean?". ScienceAlert. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  4. McGreevy, Nora. "Watch This Giant, Eerie, String-Like Sea Creature Hunt for Food in the Indian Ocean". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  5. Wood, Gerald The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats (1983) ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9
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