📸 PhotoPhoto: Show_ryu · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Atlantic pyrosome
Pyrosoma atlanticum (Atlantic pyrosome · Atlantic pyrosome)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its colony length of 60 cm is almost twice the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (29.7 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Its recorded depth of 250 m is less than half the height of Lotte World Tower (555 m) (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Atlantic pyrosome is a pelagic tunicate in which numerous individuals join together into a single colony drifting in the sea. It is distributed in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indo-Pacific.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its colony length reaches up to 60 cm. A single individual hatched from an egg buds to form 4 individuals before the initial individual degenerates, and the colony grows from those 4 individuals.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is a filter feeder that drifts in the open sea and strains particles from the water. It sometimes forms massive blooms, and its life cycle alternates between budding and sexual reproduction.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed on the National List of Species of Korea under the name Bul-ureongswengi (Korean name).
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • marinespecies.org — aphia.php
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000235112 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000235112
- • wikidata.org — Q4927517
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Pyrosoma atlanticum.JPG
- • sealifebase.se — Pyrosoma-atlanticum.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — author not recorded · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.