Details
Physalia physalis
The Portuguese man o' war is a blue-purple drifting cnidarian with a gas-filled float. It looks like a jellyfish but is actually a colony of specialized zooids.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It drifts across warm parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans and may wash near shore with wind and currents. The surface float acts like a sail.
The float is usually about 10-30 cm long, while tentacles may trail for several metres and sometimes much farther. Blue, violet and pink tones make it conspicuous at the surface.
It does not swim against currents. Different zooids handle floating, feeding, digestion and reproduction within the colony.
Small fishes and crustaceans are captured with stinging cells. Long tentacles entangle prey and venom helps immobilize it.
Reproductive zooids produce eggs or sperm, and the life cycle includes small developing stages. Ocean currents disperse the species over wide areas.
Even stranded animals can still sting, so they should not be touched on beaches. Mass strandings can close swimming areas.
