Interesting Facts about Portuguese Man-of-war Jellyfish
The Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish is in fact a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together. So apparently a single individual is comprised of many individuals. Its upper portion is a gas-fillled bladder which sits above the water. They get their name from this gas bag which resembles old warship. Their upper portion or float is 12 inches in length and only 5 in wide, but their tentacles can be enormous. They can grow up to 165 feet long! They can sometimes be seen floating in large groups of up to 1000 or more individuals. Their tentacles are covered in venom-filled nematocysts which is used to either paralyze or kill fish. Even the dead Portugues man-of-war jellyfish washed up on shore can deliver a sting. |
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