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Bizarre Sea Creature: 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' is a Group of Animals in One Form

| Aug 17, 2015 06:00 AM EDT

Rhizophysid Siphonophore possibly Bathyphysa sp. Observed off Angola (Block 18) in 1325m deep water

Researchers have observed an underwater "spaghetti monster" that was spotted dwelling under the ocean which features the creature's appendages or "arms" that seem to resemble clumps of cooked pasta.

For the first time ever, it was captured on video where the sea animal was rarely documented in its natural habitat.

This bizarre alien like creature is apparently called a Bathyphysa conifera which was found swimming underwater near the coast of Angola, Africa where workers from a petroleum development company under British Petroleum were able to acquire some footage. The workers used a remotely operated underwater vehicle or an ROV where it made a video recording of the odd creature's daily activities under 4,000 feet of water. 

Since the workers were unable to identify this life form, the workers named the creature the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" as a joke but in reality, this sea monster is not just a single entity, but composed of numerous organisms called a siphonophore.

These creatures are formed when many multicellular organisms called zooids co-exist with other species of their kind. This creature can be considered as a network of beings where they develop into life, originating from one fertilized egg. 

When this network begins to grow, the zooids also start to adapt into different functions where some would digest food and essential nutrients, while others can develop reproduction roles in order to become useful to the entire network of organisms.

Scientists from the National Oceanography Center in Southampton, England revealed that this animal is classified under the Cystonectae where these creatures possess two major body parts that are linked together with a long stem. Individual members of the B. conifera species were documented before but this oddball creature is extremely elusive in its natural habitat.

The top part of the animal is called a pneumatophore which is filled with gas that appears to be bulbous and the bottom part is called the siphosome where a group of zooids are hard at work to catch food, digesting it where others focus on reproduction and other biological body functions in order for the animal to survive.

The tentacles are also considered as feeding polyps called gastrozooids that are specifically used to capture food, when the creature is floating and travelling underwater.

Watch this bizarre deep sea creature here.  

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