Among many marine-inclined folks such as moi, pyrosomes are like unicorns. Completely improbable, utterly mysterious.

One long pyrosomes is actually a collection of thousands of clones, with each individual capable of copying itself and adding to the colony. [P]yrosome members are physically connected – actually sharing tissues.

The whole colony is shaped like a giant thimble with a point on one end and an opening on the other, and in some species this opening can be up to 6 feet (2 meters) wide – large enough to fit a full grown human inside.

Video via Eaglehawk Dive Centre in Australia.

Via Deep Sea News.