Pyrosoma

{{Short description|Genus of tunicates}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Pyrosoma atlanticum.JPG

| image_caption = Pyrosoma atlanticum

| taxon = Pyrosoma

| authority = Péron, 1804 {{cite taxon|WoRMS|id=137224 |title=Pyrosoma Péron, 1804 |access-date=30 September 2024}}

| synonyms = {{Genus list | Dipleurosoma | Brooks, 1906}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Pyrosoma is a genus of pyrosomes, marine colonial tunicates in the class Thaliacea.{{cite journal|last=Péron|first=F.|year=1804|title=Mémoire sur le nouveau genre Pyrosoma|journal=Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle|volume=4|issue=12|pages=437-446}} It contains four pelagic species found in temperate waters worldwide. Pyrosomes are filter feeders that uniquely use a type of continuous jet propulsion, generated by individual zooids, to slowly move forward while grazing; the species P. atlanticum has the highest known food clearance rate among zooplankton grazers. Colonies can reach lengths of up to {{cvt|20|m}}.{{Cite journal | last=Henschke| first=Natasha | last2=Pakhomov | first2=Evgeny A. | last3=Kwong | first3=Lian E. | last4=Everett | first4=Jason D. | last5=Laiolo | first5=Leonardo | last6=Coghlan | first6=Amy R. | last7=Suthers | first7=Iain M. | date=May 2019 | title=Large vertical migrations of Pyrosoma atlanticum play an important role in active carbon transport | url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018JG004918 | journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences | language=en | volume=124 | issue=5 | pages=1056–1070 | doi=10.1029/2018JG004918 | doi-access=free| hdl=10453/139295 | hdl-access=free }}