the earth's oceans are filled with massive, hollow, worm-like entities called pyrosomes that can grow as big as a sperm whale.

Correct. If you think of earth carbon based biology as an operating system, then DNA is the hard drive memory, and the order DNA is in and expressed is the software. Any of those could be wildly different for alien life. Instead of carbon, the alien operating system could be a based on a core structure of silicon, germanium, palladium or others. [See this wiki](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical_types_of_biochemistry#:~:text=Titanium%2C%20aluminium%2C%20magnesium%2C%20and,based%20life%20would%20be%20unlikely) For the DNA “memory” it could be totally different molecules, or even not chemistry at all if you want to consider energy etc. there’s nothing saying that our 4 nucleotides make up the only way to read and write and store information. And the order and expression of the memory “DNA” system, whatever that is, would be written in a totally foreign way. Think a different language that may not even use of basic concepts. For instance DNA genes program proteins or tiny machines to carry out specific functions, when triggered at certain times. Like hormones triggering female humans to become male (we all start female). An alien system might “always be on” and whatever is produced the most is what happens. The galaxies the limit. Even a slight difference to one of those things would be wildly different and noticeable m, assuming we could even identify it as life. Crazy huh?