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Portuguese Man o' War | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Portuguese Man o' War

Physalia physalis

HydrozoaSurface waters of warm open ocean, driven onshore by wind

Field profile

The Portuguese man o' war floats with a gas-filled blue crest above the water and long fishing tentacles below. It cannot swim and travels wherever wind and current take it. Mass strandings on beaches follow onshore winds.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-03-22

Portuguese Man o' War

A man o' war is a colony

It is a siphonophore: a single floating unit built from many specialised zooids that cannot live apart. The float, the fishing tentacles, the digestive polyps and the reproductive bodies are separate individuals bound into one working animal.

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