Portuguese Man o' War Facts

Portuguese man o' war floats on ocean surfaces with long tentacles.

Portuguese man o' war is a colonial hydrozoan found worldwide in oceans.

Portuguese man o' war is a siphonophore, not a jellyfish.

Portuguese man o' war with visible gas-filled pneumatophore.

Tentacles hang below with venomous cells to capture prey.

Seven types of specialized zooids perform digestion, hunting, and reproduction.

Portuguese man o' war moves with wind and waves, lacking self-propulsion.

Groups of over 1,000 man o' wars sometimes drift together.

Portuguese man o' war belongs to neuston living on the sea surface.

Loggerhead turtles and blue sea slugs safely eat Portuguese man o' war.

The man o' war fish lives among tentacles and feeds on gonads.

Venomous sting causes severe pain and red welts lasting days.

Detached tentacles remain venomous for hours or days after death.

Man o' war colonies are male or female releasing sperm or eggs.

Early growth starts underwater before surfacing with a buoyant sail.