''Apolemia uvaria'', commonly known as string jellyfish, barbed wire jellyfish,Jones, Georgina. ''A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula.'' SURG, Cape Town, 2008. and long stringy stingy thingy,Staff, ''Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand''. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/corals-anemones-and-jellyfish/page-1 Accessed 16 Sept 2013 is a

siphonophore Siphonophorae (from Greek ''siphōn'' 'tube' + ''pherein'' 'to bear') is an order within Hydrozoa, which is a class of marine organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the order contains 175 specie ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Apolemiidae ''Apolemia'' is a genus of siphonophores. It is the only genus in the monotypic family Apolemiidae. Despite appearing to be a single multicellular organism, they are actually a floating colony of polyps and medusoids, collectively known as zooid ...

. As with all siphonophores, string jellyfish may appear to be a single organism, but each specimen of ''Apolemia uvaria'' is a colony of specialised minute organisms called zooids. All the zooids are attached to each other and are physiologically connected to the extent that they cannot survive alone. String jellyfish are colonial animals that may reach 3 m in total length and have a diameter of 2–5 cm. The colony is formed of a central string, bearing groups of pink and white tentacles, which clump together or extend. The whole colony has a gas float at the front and a set of swimming bells.Wrobel D. & Mills C. 2003. ''Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates'': a guide to the common gelatinous animals. Sea Challengers. This colonial animal is

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

and is found in oceans worldwide in midwater. These ocean predators act like drift nets, spreading their tentacles to catch plankton. The tentacles give a painful sting and are best avoided.

References

Apolemiidae Cnidarians of the Atlantic Ocean Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Animals described in 1815 Taxa named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur {{Siphonophorae-stub