# Next biggest "non-whale" sea creature after the blue whale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524 "2012-02-21T13:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/21 "2012-02-22T17:38:56Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > While looking this up on Wikipedia, I was startled to learn that these things are _chordates_. It’s something of an oversimplification, but, despite their looks, pyrosomes are more closely related to humans than to jellyfish (Cnidaria)! Okay, the salps were kind of creepy. The colony was like some kind of giant snake with thousands of tiny white mouths opening and closing… ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/22 "2012-02-22T17:43:26Z")
For the original question- not a vertebrate, but a species of ribbon worm, the [bootlace worm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineus_longissimus), has been recorded as being longer than a blue whale. The longest non-whale living verterbrate is probably either the whale shark, or the oarfish species, the fabulously named [King of Herrings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_herrings) which have been apparently recorded at sizes longer than any whale shark (though they are thinner, so not so heavy), but very little is known about them. There could be anything in the depths still really… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/23 "2012-02-22T19:19:16Z")
> [@Otara](#): > > [Lion's mane jellyfish - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion's_mane_jellyfish) > > Cheating perhaps? Can be longer than a blue whale. > > Otara The Portuguese Man o’ War can be longer. But while it [del]walks[/del] swims like a jellyfish, and [del]talks[/del] floats like a jellyfish, it is actually not one animal but a colony of organisms, so is cheating more. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/24 "2012-02-22T20:58:28Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The Portuguese Man o’ War Nice username / topic combination. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/25 "2012-02-22T20:59:13Z")
Isn’t each individual strand of a Man-o’-War a single organism, though? So you could still say that one of the strand-organisms is the longest. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/26 "2012-02-22T21:54:26Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Nice username / topic combination. 🙂 Those poncy bastards float on the surface all purple. Sure there is a bunch hiding, but it’s like they’re advertising. > [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t each individual strand of a Man-o’-War a single organism, though? So you could still say that one of the strand-organisms is the longest. They’re four types of polyp. You might be right, the killing strands are dactylzooids and are most of the length, not including the sail polyp (the other two are feeding and reproduction, and I guess intermingled in the tentacles). ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524/27 "2012-02-23T16:07:03Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Okay, the salps were kind of creepy. The colony was like some kind of giant snake with thousands of tiny white mouths opening and closing… … “thousands of tiny white mouths opening and closing” … Oh, now that is getting a bit Lovecraftian, indeed! Interesting! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-biggest-non-whale-sea-creature-after-the-blue-whale/613524.md?page=1)