amnhnyc:

POV: You’re in the middle of the ocean and, for some reason, you need to write something down. To your surprise and delight, you discover that there are about three hundred species of sea pen! Unfortunately for you, none of them can be used for writing. Named for their resemblance to old-fashioned quills, sea pens are actually not single animals: they are colonies of polyps. All of the polyps work together and each has a role to play. There are feeding polyps that catch plankton, as well as polyps that circulate water to keep the colony balanced and upright.

Photo: Nhobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

#oceanlife #deepsea #marineanimals #biodiversity #naturegram #naturephotography
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