These gorgeous, intricate sea creatures are actually giant blobs of snot [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Yasemin Saplakoglu - Staff Writer 4 hours ago

Scientists are using lasers to create 3D reconstructions of these creatures' mucus houses.



This 2002 photo of a giant larvacean shows the animal (in blue) and the inner filter of its mucous structure it built around itself.
(Image: © 2002 MBARI)

Hundreds of feet below the sea surface, teeny-tiny sea creatures secrete snotty blobs from cells on their heads to build their oversized mucus dwellings. With lasers, researchers are now peering inside these impressive structures to learn the delicate craft of these deep-sea architects.

These tadpole-looking sea animals are called giant larvaceans (Bathochordaeus); but despite their name, the animals are less than 4inches (10 centimeters) long, according to a statement from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Institute (MBARI). But their homes are another story: they each carry around a giant mucus bubble that can reach up to 3.3 feet (1 meter) long. Once the critters secrete these impressive structures — made up of an inner and outer filter — they use them as a feeding apparatus.

While inside its mucus mansion, the giant larvacean flaps its tail to push water through these filters; the outer filter catches the food too big for the animal to eat, while the inner filter pushes appropriately sized food into the animal's mouth. Eventually, their house gets clogged with food and the animal abandons it, to the joy of deeper-dwelling snackers like sea cucumbers, according to a 2017 video from MBARI.

This helps the ocean to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — the houses usually have a lot of carbon-rich food stuck in them — and the abandoned mucus houses carried microplastics from the water down to the seafloor.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/giant-larvacean-mucus-houses-3d-imaging.html