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Photographed off the Western coast of India, Goa, to be precise. Not even sure this is a creature since I've never seen anything like it. It appeared to move by shooting tiny jets of water from its tentacle like thingies. It looks a bit like a jellyfish but without the typical shape expected.

Update: No larger animals around, but there were people fishing. Just off the water's edge. Also, no, I don't actually frequent the place so I can't be sure it's not part of the native fauna. Size: Perhaps two adult hand spans long.

the sea creature

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    Average adult handspan isn't really a good figure - women and mens hand averages differ and there is no real good info for that - so maybe, what 40cm? 50cm?
    – Aravona
    Jan 10, 2017 at 12:20
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    I think giving adult hand spans are a good figure for estimating size, we all have them, and while they vary a bit, Hands are a recognized unit of measure
    – James Jenkins
    Jan 10, 2017 at 13:15
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    I am unable to view your picture, but it sounds like a salp. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salp. If so, please reply and I'll make it an answer.
    – cobaltduck
    Jan 10, 2017 at 14:32
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    I dont think its a salp. Going by images on Google they appear to have this translucence that the creature certainly didnt have. This is actually a screenshot from a video: hence the poor quality. Is there any way to upload a video here?
    – Neodymia
    Jan 10, 2017 at 15:51
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    If someone has time, you can search through species-identification.org. They have a nice list of marine species to go through.
    – B540Glenn
    Jan 10, 2017 at 16:56

1 Answer 1

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It is very hard to tell from the poor photo, but I suspect that it is a member of the Tunicates, a class of marine animals that includes things like sea-squirts.

More specifically I would guess that it is a member of the Pyrosomes, which are more commonly found in warm waters, such as are found off Goa. Pyrosomes are actually colonial organisms composed of large number of individual pyrosomes living as a free-floating colony. They resemble a tube and can move by jetting water out of the tube through co-ordinated beating of cilia from members of the colony.

It could also be a Salp, which are similar to pyrosomes, but I think more commonly seen in non-tropical waters.

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