Portuguese man o' war
Floating tentacled colony
A Portuguese man o' war is a marine creature often mistaken for a jellyfish but actually a siphonophore—a colonial organism made up of specialized individual animals working together.
It floats on the ocean surface with a gas-filled bladder that resembles a sail, trailing long tentacles that deliver painful, venomous stings.
The name supposedly derives from its resemblance to 18th-century Portuguese warships under sail.
We saw a Portuguese man o' war washed up on the beach and knew to keep our distance.
- jellyfishDrifting marine stinger
- tentaclesFlexible grasping appendages
- stingSharp wound from insect
- venomInjected animal poison
- bluePrimary color; also sad
painful sting · float · ocean · sea creature · tropical · beach · beach hazard · painful · colony · drift · Atlantic · bladder · translucent · blue bottle · warning · warning coloration · iridescent · sail
Portuguese man o' warmoon jellyfish
Translucent marine cnidarian
box jellyfish · sea turtle · loggerhead turtle · dolphin · manatee
Portuguese, Portugal, man, men, man's, manly, manhood, mankind, war