Any idea what this tube is?

[dobie]

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj89/ClaudiaTraveller/Unknown-.gif

We found this recently in the Philippines. It was about 5 feet long with an 8-10 inch diameter. Any experts out there please? Thanks.

p.s. sorry I don't know how to make the picture come up on this post

 

[HowardE]

It looks like a sea cucumber of some sort or maybe a large tunicate?

To make it come up in the post... click the little "image" icon in the edit bar above, or just wrap the image in the img tag like this

[img]http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj89/ClaudiaTraveller/Unknown-.gif[/img]

 

[donnyb]

If those dimensions you quote are correct, that thing was huuuuuge.
I have seen sea cucumbers that long but they were always skinny.

It looks translucent/almost transparent in the pic, is that correct? Do you have any other images? Hard to tell if it is a cuke or a colonial animal (more likely) or even a huge egg cluster ????

 

[Kukuisa]

It looks like the Salp we saw earlier this year. But be aware that it was on a different side of the globe.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/4633038-post109.html

K.

 

[donnyb]

Nice job Kukuisa!
I think we are on the right track.

 

[dobie]

It's not a sea cucumber - it's transparent with no obvious head and tail. We looked up Salps and tunicates but they didn't seem to match. We thought about eggs too, but if they are eggs - what laid them? (The dimensions are correct) And they were very unprotected - barely hidden under the overhang which doesn't seem like a smart thing to do with your eggs.

I just looked at your link, Kukuisa. (Sorry - I didn't realise it was a relevant link) Now your Salp looks a lot like my 'tube' - maybe we are indeed on the right track.

Anyone else with suggestions?

 

[LeslieH]

It's clearly an egg mass & possibly from the diamond back squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus - look at the bottom of the page here Thysanoteuthis rhombus

 

[dobie]

Thanks for that, Leslie - your squid eggs look right - the only proviso being that we found our tube at 35 - 45 feet, not "just beneath the surface". We've been speculating that maybe it had got caught in the overhang, but how did it get down there in the first place? There had been recent storms in the area, but that would surely have to be a helluva storm to push it so deep!
I don't suppose we'll ever know for sure, but I appreciate the help and suggestions. Many thanks.

 

[LeslieH]

Everything pelagic sinks eventually. It may even be part of the development cycle that the egg mass sinks before the hatchlings emerge.