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Salps: The world's fastest-growing animals that look like buckets of snot

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Name: Salps (Salpa fusiformis)

Where it lives: Widespread throughout the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

What it eats: Phytoplankton and anything else small enough to get caught in their feeding net

Why it's awesome: Often described as "jelly balls" or "buckets of snot," these marine organisms are transparent and have a gelatinous texture.

There are more than 70 species of salps worldwide, with Salpa fusiformis being the most common. Salps can be found from the ocean surface down to around 2,600 feet (800 meters) deep. They are barrel shaped, ranging from 0.08 inches (0.2 centimeters) at birth to about 4 inches (10 cm) in adulthood. They can join together in long chains that drift in the sea, following the tides.

Related: Barreleye fish — The deep-sea weirdo with rotating eyes and a see-through head

Salps can also propel themselves via jet propulsion. They pump seawater through their bodies with bands of muscles that surround their bodies. As the water is pushed through their bodies and out of their rear, food is collected and they are propelled forwards. Because of this, they are members of a group known as "sea squirts."

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