Firehose-Eater
Location: Gulf of Mexico, nearby to offshore oil rigs.
Time: Sighted in circa 1970’s, first reported in 2000.
Another odd report, which was a follow-up to the living-firehose, was even stranger. The same ex-oil rig repair worker reported seeing a huge, amorphous creature too big and too close to see all at once. This “thing” was consuming one of the living-firehose creatures by swallowing it, the predator apparently looked somewhat like an anemone or starfish, apart from being so large as to make a human appear like an ant by comparison.
This report is even more ambiguous and contradictory than the first. A soft-bodied invertebrate, or even one with a mineralised shell, could not possibly get as large as the witness suggested. The biggest starfish is still smaller than a man, as is the biggest anemone. It is remotely possible that what was seen may have been a jellyfish of some sort, as those can get to more considerable sizes, particularly if we count the tentacles. Delusion or hallucination via nitrogen narcosis may still be the more likely explanation.
What would a speculative, genuine firehose-eater be like? Some sort of Cnidarian would be the best bet, a jellyfish perhaps. So, the Firehose-Eater (Colossomedusa gravis) is a singularly gigantic kind of jellyfish, distinctive in having a bell of enormous size. The bell reaches 10 meters wide and 7 meters deep, and consists of rather stronger, more coarse-textured flesh that is typical of jellyfish, the inside of the bell is profusely covered in many short stinging tentacles. In fact, it seems that the body of this jellyfish contains a special kind of protein that lends higher density and structural integrity, as would be expected for such an enormous creature. Although it has many stinging tentacles, it also grows symbiotic brown algae inside its body in large amounts; this allows it to drift for extended periods of time without catching prey, being able to gain nutrients from the photosynthesizing algae. It dwells mainly in the open ocean, from surface waters down well into the mesopelagic zone, in order to metabolise from its reserves of brown algae, it must stay where there is at least some light. The firehose-eater has a few methods by which it will capture live prey, it is able to turn itself partially inside out, so that it looks like a huge ball of short tentacles, in this mode it will drift passively, picking up small prey that blunders into it. Also able to move actively, it will pulse its body slowly, but powerfully to move itself along. Being such a large source of shelter, it is able to catch fish and squid that are attracted to the shade it provides, and will even capture larger fish and invertebrates in this way. Seeing as it is so large it is generally rare, despite producing large amounts of larva when they breed, most do not live to reach adult size.
Location: Gulf of Mexico, nearby to offshore oil rigs.
Time: Sighted in circa 1970’s, first reported in 2000.
Another odd report, which was a follow-up to the living-firehose, was even stranger. The same ex-oil rig repair worker reported seeing a huge, amorphous creature too big and too close to see all at once. This “thing” was consuming one of the living-firehose creatures by swallowing it, the predator apparently looked somewhat like an anemone or starfish, apart from being so large as to make a human appear like an ant by comparison.
This report is even more ambiguous and contradictory than the first. A soft-bodied invertebrate, or even one with a mineralised shell, could not possibly get as large as the witness suggested. The biggest starfish is still smaller than a man, as is the biggest anemone. It is remotely possible that what was seen may have been a jellyfish of some sort, as those can get to more considerable sizes, particularly if we count the tentacles. Delusion or hallucination via nitrogen narcosis may still be the more likely explanation.
What would a speculative, genuine firehose-eater be like? Some sort of Cnidarian would be the best bet, a jellyfish perhaps. So, the Firehose-Eater (Colossomedusa gravis) is a singularly gigantic kind of jellyfish, distinctive in having a bell of enormous size. The bell reaches 10 meters wide and 7 meters deep, and consists of rather stronger, more coarse-textured flesh that is typical of jellyfish, the inside of the bell is profusely covered in many short stinging tentacles. In fact, it seems that the body of this jellyfish contains a special kind of protein that lends higher density and structural integrity, as would be expected for such an enormous creature. Although it has many stinging tentacles, it also grows symbiotic brown algae inside its body in large amounts; this allows it to drift for extended periods of time without catching prey, being able to gain nutrients from the photosynthesizing algae. It dwells mainly in the open ocean, from surface waters down well into the mesopelagic zone, in order to metabolise from its reserves of brown algae, it must stay where there is at least some light. The firehose-eater has a few methods by which it will capture live prey, it is able to turn itself partially inside out, so that it looks like a huge ball of short tentacles, in this mode it will drift passively, picking up small prey that blunders into it. Also able to move actively, it will pulse its body slowly, but powerfully to move itself along. Being such a large source of shelter, it is able to catch fish and squid that are attracted to the shade it provides, and will even capture larger fish and invertebrates in this way. Seeing as it is so large it is generally rare, despite producing large amounts of larva when they breed, most do not live to reach adult size.