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Description
The Zeppelin Eel (Gigantognathus inanis) is a species of deep-sea saccopharyngiform closely related to snipe eels and it is by far the most massive member of the group. Its primary body reaches up to five metres in length, with a very thin tail that further stretches for another nine to twelve metres, an extreme case of abyssal gigantism. Highly degenerate (even by saccopharyngiform standards), its skeleton is non-ossified, all fins are lost with the exception of the anal/adipose pair, its digestive system has very little individual distinction, it is blind and deaf, and the brain is virtually reduced to just the stem; it would be appropriate to say this animal is a barely functioning shell. Its survival depends entirely upon a colony of specialized symbiont cephalopods that use the fish as their vessel.

A large gular sac that runs down most of the body stores the shoal of symbionts, a type of shell-less nautiloid known as the Pilot Squid (Ornithoteuthis praefactor) only about twenty to thirty centimetres in total length which are the fish's only means of survival. Scenting the water running through its gills and open mouth, the squids are able to direct the fish to swim to and from certain locations by stimulating structures along the inner jaw with their antennae-like tentacles. When prey is detected, the swarm bursts forth from the mouth, their serrated beaks carving away chunks of meat like a cookiecutter shark, and soft bodies bloating with flesh after large meals. Highly venomous, in numbers, they are capable of killing animals hundreds of times their weight, and also act as a very effective deterrent to any predators thinking their host would make an easy meal. Their tentacles are also covered in thin branches that help to capture marine snow as a secondary source of nutrition. The fish meanwhile is sustained by the liquid waste deposited by the squids which flow into its digestive tract. The stomach is incapable of producing digestive enzymes (the squid can even swim freely into and out of it if accidentally ingested), so this faecal slurry is its only possible sustenance. In effect, the relationship between eel and cephalopod is less that of mutualism, and more that the squids are the drivers of a fish vehicle.

The cephalopods themselves are dependent for survival on the eel, as their siphons are poorly developed and tentacles highly reduced to thin feelers incapable of grasping. They are only able to propel themselves through the flapping of their mantle fins, with a secondary pair of fins at the tip of the mantle used as a large sucker to attach themselves to the skin of their host. A single eel may play host to over a hundred cephalopods, which crowd within its elastic gular sac and onto its flanks. Those on the outside of the body flash bioluminescent signals to intimidate predators and communicate with other cephalopod colonies, or use it to completely camouflage their host while hunting. The extremely long tail of the fish is used as a holdfast for the cephalopods' eggs, which are naturally well-oxygenated by the continuous movement of their host. Without significant metabolic processes to worry about, their fish host may live for centuries, sheltering many generations of cephalopods (which themselves, being nautiloids, are rather long-lived for cephalopods).

This obligate symbiosis of fish and cephalopod likely originated as that of parasitism or commensalism, but over time, the more intelligent mollusc came to gradually dominate the dimmer vertebrate until it was no longer than equal relationship, effectively domesticating it. The eel is incapable of even reproducing on its own, with the cephalopods having to manually transfer sperm packets over to other fish when they encounter one another (the species is hermaphroditic). The young fish is actually quite capable of survival on its own, but as it matures, its cognitive functions decrease until it is entirely dependent on its symbionts to perform all bodily functions; it signals this stage by releasing pheromones into the water that attract colonies of cephalopods, which may transfer some of its members to this new host to prevent overpopulation. Should the vessel be mortally wounded somehow or near the end of its life, its living cargo may choose to devour their living host, before using this final gift of flesh to sustain them until they can find and integrate with another eel colony.

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I decided against my better judgement to throw my hat into the ring with 's latest spec challenge of a "bird noodle", whatever that term implies. So using the absolute loosest possible interpretation of "bird" in this context, instead of making something that is "a bird, but longg" , I bring you longg fish and longg nautilus.

Description
The Zeppelin Eel (Gigantognathus inanis) is a species of deep-sea saccopharyngiform closely related to snipe eels and it is by far the most massive member of the group. Its primary body reaches up to five metres in length, with a very thin tail that further stretches for another nine to twelve metres, an extreme case of abyssal gigantism. Highly degenerate (even by saccopharyngiform standards), its skeleton is non-ossified, all fins are lost with the exception of the anal/adipose pair, its digestive system has very little individual distinction, it is blind and deaf, and the brain is virtually reduced to just the stem; it would be appropriate to say this animal is a barely functioning shell. Its survival depends entirely upon a colony of specialized symbiont cephalopods that use the fish as their vessel.

A large gular sac that runs down most of the body stores the shoal of symbionts, a type of shell-less nautiloid known as the Pilot Squid (Ornithoteuthis praefactor) only about twenty to thirty centimetres in total length which are the fish's only means of survival. Scenting the water running through its gills and open mouth, the squids are able to direct the fish to swim to and from certain locations by stimulating structures along the inner jaw with their antennae-like tentacles. When prey is detected, the swarm bursts forth from the mouth, their serrated beaks carving away chunks of meat like a cookiecutter shark, and soft bodies bloating with flesh after large meals. Highly venomous, in numbers, they are capable of killing animals hundreds of times their weight, and also act as a very effective deterrent to any predators thinking their host would make an easy meal. Their tentacles are also covered in thin branches that help to capture marine snow as a secondary source of nutrition. The fish meanwhile is sustained by the liquid waste deposited by the squids which flow into its digestive tract. The stomach is incapable of producing digestive enzymes (the squid can even swim freely into and out of it if accidentally ingested), so this faecal slurry is its only possible sustenance. In effect, the relationship between eel and cephalopod is less that of mutualism, and more that the squids are the drivers of a fish vehicle.

The cephalopods themselves are dependent for survival on the eel, as their siphons are poorly developed and tentacles highly reduced to thin feelers incapable of grasping. They are only able to propel themselves through the flapping of their mantle fins, with a secondary pair of fins at the tip of the mantle used as a large sucker to attach themselves to the skin of their host. A single eel may play host to over a hundred cephalopods, which crowd within its elastic gular sac and onto its flanks. Those on the outside of the body flash bioluminescent signals to intimidate predators and communicate with other cephalopod colonies, or use it to completely camouflage their host while hunting. The extremely long tail of the fish is used as a holdfast for the cephalopods' eggs, which are naturally well-oxygenated by the continuous movement of their host. Without significant metabolic processes to worry about, their fish host may live for centuries, sheltering many generations of cephalopods (which themselves, being nautiloids, are rather long-lived for cephalopods).

This obligate symbiosis of fish and cephalopod likely originated as that of parasitism or commensalism, but over time, the more intelligent mollusc came to gradually dominate the dimmer vertebrate until it was no longer than equal relationship, effectively domesticating it. The eel is incapable of even reproducing on its own, with the cephalopods having to manually transfer sperm packets over to other fish when they encounter one another (the species is hermaphroditic). The young fish is actually quite capable of survival on its own, but as it matures, its cognitive functions decrease until it is entirely dependent on its symbionts to perform all bodily functions; it signals this stage by releasing pheromones into the water that attract colonies of cephalopods, which may transfer some of its members to this new host to prevent overpopulation. Should the vessel be mortally wounded somehow or near the end of its life, its living cargo may choose to devour their living host, before using this final gift of flesh to sustain them until they can find and integrate with another eel colony.

---

I decided against my better judgement to throw my hat into the ring with 's latest spec challenge of a "bird noodle", whatever that term implies. So using the absolute loosest possible interpretation of "bird" in this context, instead of making something that is "a bird, but longg" , I bring you longg fish and longg nautilus.