I got up close with a Portuguese man-o-war and my god these animals are shockingly beautiful. - ThreadSky

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social • 759 days ago

I got up close with a Portuguese man-o-war and my god these animals are shockingly beautiful.

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chipman-lab.bsky.social•163 days ago

Any idea what the pigmentation is?

thelichenthrope.bsky.social•163 days ago

"The blue pigment of P. physalis is suggested to be a bilin-protein complex, and the green, purple, and pink coloration in other tissues are caused by unconjugated bile pigments, which are likely sourced from their diet" https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51842-1

nwnoggin.bsky.social•759 days ago

😍

tiffanyclay.dev•759 days ago

As someone who was stung very close to my lady parts as a child pls don’t get too far close up in an uncontrolled setting. In related news the first time I ever heard my mom cuss was when my brother tried to step on said colony of cnidarian zooids

vrai.bsky.social•759 days ago

this is wildly gorgeous. like i can't even tell you how much i love this. thank you for sharing

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

They’re you’re colors too!

vrai.bsky.social•759 days ago

💞🤍💙💜💞

karen-newcombe.bsky.social•43 days ago

Aren’t they though? So complex and weird and gorgeous!

alliewilkinson.bsky.social•759 days ago

These are STUNNING!

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

Aren’t they amazing?!

jodyvanb.bsky.social•51 days ago

Scrolling my timeline and thought these were fashion-related. Incredible!

daktangle.bsky.social•61 days ago

I love how they are in essence a midway point between a colony of animals and the organs of a singular animal.

embryosophy.love•759 days ago

what?! i had no idea they were so gorgeous

vinkus.bsky.social•163 days ago

Such beautiful pictures!

beholderbee.bsky.social•48 days ago

@willowillowillowi.bsky.social this is soo pretty

sivthedreamer.bsky.social•50 days ago

Siphonophores are so cool! ^w^

cyaneyed.lol•759 days ago

Oh hey! Glad you made it over here. : )

strawberryskates.bsky.social•51 days ago

📌

lurdiak.bsky.social•50 days ago

I stepped on one of those as a child! 0/5, would not recommend.

danirabaiotti.bsky.social•759 days ago

If dangerous why so lickable

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

Nature is a mystery

danirabaiotti.bsky.social•759 days ago

I just want to devour the forbidden strawberry laces. Is that so much to ask.

imhelendt.bsky.social•759 days ago

As an artist, I want to paint this. As someone who encountered them regularly while growing up, they strike fear in my heart.

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

Haha same!

thisisnotavirus.zip•759 days ago

No too close, I hope.

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

Always with some nice friendly glass between us :)

thisisnotavirus.zip•759 days ago

Good! I'm not sure I'd be able to hold back the intrusive thoughts... "go on, just a lil touch, they're so pretty".

davidlennardgijon.bsky.social•50 days ago

And like so many shockingly beautiful experiences, watch out for the sting in the tail

jamesls12.bsky.social•50 days ago

Tell that to the scar on my leg from a 1980 sting!

trevorabranch.bsky.social•163 days ago

I remember dodging these in the waves in Cape Town pretty frequently, never thought of getting out of the water though... they can sting even after washed up but probably nothing as bad as being wrapped up by them in the water, I guess. The plough shells Bullia rhodostoma eat them like candy.

kladdagh.bsky.social•50 days ago

Point of fact, it's not a single animal, as memory serves, but a colony. It's made of polyps called zooids that developed separately & much like the lifeforms that make up lichen, ended up forming a symbiotic relationship. 🤓
I'm an out of work linguist, BTW, and have no business knowing this!

maile.bsky.social•759 days ago

The colors are stunning

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

I love them ❤️💜💛💙

stlcatfishmike.bsky.social•61 days ago

Awesome in the most traditional sense. That’s a whole lotta “ow”

technotional.bsky.social•43 days ago

Cf., https://youtu.be/aZ0XJKTwey8?feature=shared

fungirl.bsky.social•759 days ago

If Pinky Pie was a jellyfish 😍

diwaker.io•759 days ago

Gorgeous! Could you share a bit more about your process? How close did you get? How did you take these pictures? Where was this?

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

Sure. We scoop them up using a special technique my colleague developed so that we don’t get stung, then gently transfer them to aquaria for observation :)

legolostatsea.bsky.social•51 days ago

We spotted this Portuguese man o' war back in December 2021 and when we posted a picture online people said it looked like a cross between a unicorn and a flamenco dancer

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•51 days ago

Ok but this looks legit magical haha

strule.bsky.social•50 days ago

Man o' war says trans rights

dndad.bsky.social•50 days ago

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•50 days ago

Hahhaha YES

joijetson.bsky.social•759 days ago

Nature’s colorway.

fuckyouiquit.bsky.social•759 days ago

Forbidden noods

zill.bsky.social•759 days ago

On the super danger DOOM noodle

hardin.bsky.social•759 days ago

I loved learning about those when I was a kid. They’re really wild — they’re technically multiple genetically identical animals that all form one creature together.

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

Yes! So strange.

handle.invalid•759 days ago

Are they jellyfish? So cool

rebeccarhelm.bsky.social•759 days ago

They are relatives of jellyfish, but they float rather than pulse around.

gravity-pike.bsky.social•50 days ago

I've heard that these are colony animals, but, er, they kind of look like one distinct guy. How are they split up? Are the individual animals, like, really teeny? Or is, like, one tentacle a single animal?

layer8problem.bsky.social•50 days ago

Hydrozoans. Basically, instead of developing from a single embryo that grows along a body plan they 'bud' themselves into a bunch of clones and each one takes a different form and role. Think of it like having a very weird looking twin in place of a kidney.

gravity-pike.bsky.social•50 days ago

So is each one, like, microbe-sized? Or are they, like, organ-sized, with some living *inside* others?

brandongcg.bsky.social•50 days ago

Yes :p
They’re siphonophores, who all do a similar thing (being colonies of tiny animals comprising one larger organism) if you wanna look them up, they’re really cool and can get super creepy too, some just look like masses of writhing tentacles

mc2x.bsky.social•164 days ago

@jopada.bsky.social

kroekermartin.bsky.social•164 days ago

these would make an interesting shower curtain...

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