1. By Emma Gregory and Seth Brooks
siphonophores
By Emma Gregory and Seth Brooks

2. What are siphonophores?
Siphonophores are a type of plankton consisting of many different zooids (individual organisms) that grow from a single egg. These individual zooids are not able to survive on their own if they are separated from the colony.

3. What do they look like?
Siphonophores range widely in appearance. They can look like jellyfish, glowing lanterns, masses of tentacles, centipede-like creatures, or long, luminescent strings. They can grow up to 40 meters in length.
Right- Hula Skirt Siphonophore demonstrating the varied appearances of this type of plankton

4. Works Cited

5. What are the parts of a siphonophore?
Pneumatophore – A gas filled sac that is used to keep the siphonophores afloat.
Left- A Comb Jelly Siphonophore with a large pneumatophore

6. What are the parts of a siphonophore?
Nectosome – The nectosome contains the nectophores, which are specialized structures that propel the siphonophore forward.
Right- A photo of a Siphonophore’s nectosomes

7. What are the parts of a siphonophore?
Siphosome – The siphosome contains all the other parts of a siphonophore. These including polyps and medusa for catching and digesting food, transporting nutrients, reproduction, and defense.
Right- Diagram of a Siphonophore’s body plan

8. Palpon – A type of polyp that has excretory and defense responsibilities.
Bract – A type of polyp or medusa (debated) which plays a role as a barricade for the colony.
Right- Diagram of a Siphonophore’s body plan, including the Palpons and Polyps

9. How do siphonophores reproduce?
All of the parts of a siphonophore develop from a fertilized egg called a protozooid. It then develops a pneumatophore, nectophores, and the remaining zooids it needs to survive.
Many siphonophore colonies are hermaphroditic, while some colonies are strictly male or female.

10. Lifecycle of A siphonophore
Egg is fertilized
Egg develops into a protozooid
All other zooids of the colony bud from the protozooid
Siphonophores grow symmetrically, adding new nectophores and siphosomes down the main stem
Right- Illustrated lifecycle of a Siphonophore

11. How do siphonophores eat?
Siphonophores are cnidarians, a group of organisms that use cnidocytes kill their prey.
Cnidocytes are a type of cell that contain a hollow, dart-like structure. Once activated, these inject toxins into the other organism.
After the animal has been stunned or killed, the siphonophore’s digestive parts engulf the prey.
Right- A Siphonophore covered in cnidocytes

12. What do Siphonophores eat?
All Siphonophores are predators, and they eat small fish, krill, crustaceans, and anything else that swims into their tentacles.
Right- A Portuguese Man-Of-War eating small fish

13. Where do they live?
Siphonophores are common in most open and deep ocean ecosystems. They are very fragile and oftentimes small, which makes them hard to catch and to see.
XDH23kIuhk (Near shore siphonophore) T1TSbarW1U (Deep sea siphonophore)

14. How do they effect the ecosystem?
Siphonophores keep down populations of small fish and other types of zooplankton, which in turn helps the phytoplankton populations.

15. Siphonophores of puget sound
No information was found on types of Siphonophores in Puget Sound. Finding an unspecified type of siphonophore during a night dive is mentioned in someone’s personal blog, but this should be taken with a grain of salt.