This is one of the largest unicellular organisms, but as far as O know this is the largest:
this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
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I feel the sudden urge to have a water balloon fight.
EDIT: This fucker is larger. Looks cooler, too.
Xenophyophores are multinucleate unicellular organisms found on the ocean floor
A multinucleate cell (also known as multinucleated cell or polynuclear cell) is a eukaryotic cell that has more than one nucleus, i.e., multiple nuclei share one common cytoplasm
There's stuff down there...
This algae ball also has multiple nuclei
it looks like a taut grape that's begging to be squeezed to burst.
Big cells usually have multiple organelles of each type. They are less special than one would think, while being very strange indeed.
I wonder how much strength the cell membrane has? Does it pop easily, and if not, what prevents it?
I want to know what the texture is like on this.
I'm more interested in the mouthfeel.
Asking the real questions,
Is that just a thick ass phospholipid bi-layer?
What’s going on here and can I eat that thing?
What does cytoplasm taste like?
My hypothesis would be that, in order to keep that membrane taut, the internal salinity would have to be fairly close to the exterior salinity, otherwise it would shrink due to hypertonicity. That cytoplasm will probably just taste like slimy seawater
For science, right?
Of course it's for science. Now don't look while I probe it.
An egg is the same thing, albeit much simpler
"Pondering my cell" just didn't have the same ring to it... Sounds like I'm suck in jail
They are fantastic. Some years ago I got a sudden urge (from seeing them on subreddits) to grow these in my aquaria, but then I looked at several aquarist forums and realized that I shouldn’t. Really shouldn’t. They kind of don’t seem like they need more habitats to thrive in.
Are they invasive or something?
To give an exceptionally brief explanation:
- Yes.
- Ya
Not that exceptional.
More like incredibly aggressive. They are a type of algae after all. If you don’t keep a firm leash on them they’ll reproduce enough to drain all the oxygen and nutrients from an enclosed system like an aquarium.
Plant tribbles, if you will.
I suspect that they reproduce quickly, since it is a species of algae. I don't know much about this topic though.
I want to hold it. Where can I find it?
They appear in tidal zones of tropical and subtropical areas, like the Caribbean, north through Florida, south to Brazil, and in the Indo-Pacific. Overall, they inhabit every ocean throughout the world, often living in coral rubble.
Ohh. Why have never seen one before
in the ocean, usually
Why is this man in the ocean?
Oh my god, Outwit1294, you can't just ask someone why they're in the ocean!
Deep sea gigantism
That's insane. I thought it was already amazing that you can almost see some amoeba with the naked eye.
We're gonna need a bigger gel blaster.
What does it feel like?
what does it taste like
And I thought megakaryocytes were huge.