"note: the Portuguese Man Of War is not a deep sea monster"

The Portuguese Man Of War Jellyfish is a very beautiful jellyfish that can be found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. They have a very venomous sting that isn't deadly, but is very painful. The Portuguese Man of War Jellyfishes also called "Physalia Physalis" is common in Hawaii and can be found in groups of hundreds or even a thousand individuals. Actually it isn't a jellyfish, but a Hydrozoan.

The Portuguese Man Of War Jellyfish is a very special creature. It's said that it exists out of four individual organisms called Polyps. These Polyps work together to survive.

1. Pneumatophore is the part of the jellyfish that you see floating. It's actually a balloon filled with gas (carbon monoxide) and you can see it very clearly on any picture.

2. Dactylozooids these are the tentacles of the jellyfish that are used to catch prays like tiny fishes. Some of these arms are also used to bring the food to the feeding organism.

3. Gastrozooids this is the organism that digests all the food.

4. Gonozooids this is the organism that is used for the reproduction.


Like we mentioned before, the body of the Portuguese Man Of War mainly exist out of a gas filled organ (used as a sail) that can grow between 9 to 30 cm and can reach a height of 15 cm. Below this gas filled organ we find the tentacles (Dactylozooids) that can grow up to 50 meters in length! These are used to paralyze their pray and once they have caught a fish for example, it will be digested by the Gastrozooids.

The Portuguese man Of War seems like a good predator, but like many animals it has predators like the Loggerhead Turtle that eats this kind of animal without thinking about the venomous tentacles. However there are also animals that seek protection close to the tentacles of the Portuguese Man Of War, like the Nomeus Gronovii  that enjoys eating the tentacles of the jellyfish.