CLASS: Other Invertebrates
ORDER: colonial Jellyfish
FAMILY: Portuguese Man-of-War
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Physalia Physalis LENGTH: 40 to 60 feet
DIET: small fish and plankton
HOME: Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans at middle latitudes
By Jeroen Klein

The Portuguese man-of-war got its name because of its gas bubble that looks like an early Portuguese Conquistadors helmet.

The Bluebottle or Portuguese Man-of-War is not a single animal but a colony of four kinds of highly modified individuals (polyps). The polyps are dependent on one another for survival.
The float (pneumatophore) is a single individual and supports the rest of the colony.

The colony cannot swim and instead passively floats by the aid of its pneumatophore, or float.

The float is a bottle or pear-shaped sac that can exceed 15 cm. It is mainly blue, though its upper margin may show delicate shades of green or pink. It is a living, muscular bag that secretes its own gas, which is similar to air. The float has aerodynamic properties and it seems likely that sailing characteristics may be modified by muscular contraction of the crest. Physalia sails at a slight angle downwind and the course is determined by the curvature of the float and the underwater resistance of the rest of the colony.

Some Men of War are "left-sided," while others are "right-sided." The "left-sided" individual drifts at an angle of 45 degrees to the right of the direction from which the wind is blowing, and the "right-sided" individual does the opposite. This distinction is crucial in the spreading of the animals more evenly over the warm oceans of the world

The most impressive members of the colony are the tentacles that may be more than 30 m (about 100 ft) long. As Physalia drifts downwind, the long tentacle fishes continuously through the water. Muscles in the tentacle contract and drag prey into range of the digestive polyps. The prey consists mostly of small crustaceans and other members of the surface plankton which it ensnares in a tangle of nematocyst threads.
Nematocysts are among the most complex intracellular structures known and may be only 0.001 mm in diameter. Each is a hollow sphere with its external wall turned in at one point as a long, hollow, coiled thread or tube turned outside in. The opening left in the surface of the capsule is covered by a hinged lid held down by a hairlike trigger. When the stinging capsule is stimulated the tube shoots outward turning itself right side out. The tube is usually armed with spines or barbs that aid in the penetration of, and anchorage in, the victim's flesh. Stinging capsules contain a toxic mixture of phenols and proteins that is injected into the victim through a terminal pore in the thread. Nematocysts remain active and may sting even when the Portuguese man-of-war is dying or dead. Reproduction is carried out by the gonozooids, another type of polyp.

(sex organs or reproductive parts of the animals, either male or female). Each gonozooid is comprised of gonophores, which are little more than sacs containing either ovaries or testes. Physalia are dioecious. Their larvae probably develop very rapidly to small floating forms. Fertilization of Physalia is assumed to occur in the open water, because gametes from the gonozooids are shed into the water. This may happen as gonozooids themselves are broken off and released from the colony. The release of gonozooids may be a chemical response occurring when groups of Physalia are present in one locality. Critical density is probably required for succesful fertilization. Fertilization may take place close to the surface. Most reproduction takes place in the fall, producing the great abundance of young seen during the winter and spring. It is not known what triggers this spawning cycle but it probably begins in the Atlantic Ocean.
Germ Cell Development
Each gonophore has a central spadix of multinucleate endodermal cells separating the coelenteron from a layer of germ cells. Covering each germ cell is a layer of ectodermal tissue. When gonophores first bud, the germ layer is a cap of cells on top of the endodermal spadix. As gonophores mature, the germ cells evolve into a thich layer covering the spadix. Spermatogonia form a thick layer, while oogonia form a convoluted band several cells wide, but only one cell layer thick. There is very little cytoplasm material within these cells, except during rare instances when cell division is encountered. Oogonia begin development at approximately the same size as spermatogonia, but expand considerably larger. All oogonia are apparently formed at an early stage of gonophore development prior to the occurrence of enlargement. Interestingly, there appears to be yolk globules within the cytoplasm of most oogonia.

The third part of the Portuguese man-of-war is the organs that eat and digest food.The last part of it is the reproductive system .Both male and female reproductive organs are located under the gas bag.
The Portuguese man-of-war has no skeleton, head, tail, brain, heart, or blood vessels. It really does look like a jelly fish but isn't. From underneath, the Portuguese man-of-war looks like an upside down bush.
The Portuguese man-of-war lives mostly in waters of the Mediterranean Sea and off the coast of Bermuda. It lives in warm waters in a wide open habitat and will die if it goes in cold waters. It also lives along the plankton on the top of the water and doesn't attach itself to weeds on bottom of oceans like other plankton animals.
The Portuguese man-of-war gets its food by catching it with its long tentacles. Then the tentacles bring the food up to the eating part of the animal. Sometimes if the fish is very large the Portuguese man-of-war will share it with many other men-of-war.
The Portuguese man-of-war has a large pink cluster that is one of the reproductive polyps. Thats the only thing biologists have found about its reproduction. No one really knows how they reproduce but biologists have found what they think is a man-of-war baby, hanging down from the gas bag of an adult Portuguese man-of-war.
The Portuguese man-of-war is related to true jelly fish, other sea jellies, and is a member of a large group known as the Coelenterates. It also can be found in any warm ocean, fresh water lake, river, and seas of the world.
A Portuguese man-of-wars most feared enemy is the Sun Fish. The Sun Fish is the biggest of bony fishes, weighs about one thousand one hundred pounds and is about ten feet long.
A Hawksbill and a Loggerhead turtle is another fearsome enemy of the Portuguese man-of-war because it will eat it. When the Loggerhead turtle eats a man-of-war it has to keep its eyes shut so that the poison from the sting doesn't get into its eyes. Also an octopus will eat a man-of-war.
An important aspect of the Man of War's behavior is the symbiotic relationship between the Man of War and each of the following: Nomeus (a minonwlike fish), the clownfish (commonly called the Man of War fish), and the yellow-jack. These fishes live within the tentacles of a Physalia fot protection and are rarely seen elsewhere. The fish, particularly the clownfish, produce a slimy mucus that causes the Man of War not to fire its nematocysts. If the Clownfish is injured it has no slimy mucus and will die if it touches a tentacle because the Portuguese man-of-war will eat it. When first introduced to a Man of War, a Nomeus initially swims near the surface and around the Physalia in a large circular pattern in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. In addition, it avoid the larger dactylozooids and remain near the surface, feeding on the tentacles that lie just under the float. Instead of developing a "protective" mucus, the fish depends on its swimming abilities as its main mechanism of defense, while living in the venomous discharge of the Physalia.

Bluebottles are hermaphrodites, so each individual gonozooid consists of male and female parts. The fertilised egg develops into a planktonic larval form which produces the large Physalia colony by asexual budding.
The Bluebottle belongs to the phylum Cnidaria, which includes corals and sea anemones. Two other floating colonial cnidarians which may be found with Bluebottles are the By-the-wind sailor (Velella) and the blue-green Porpita pacifica. The float of Velella is a flat, oval disc with many gas-filled tubes. It is about 5 cm across with a slender diagonal sail, allowing the animal to sail at an angle to the wind. The float of Porpita is a flat, circular disc up to 2.5 cm across with many gas-filled tubes, but no sail. Both of these species possess fishing tentacles with stinging capsules that have no effect on humans.

FIRST AID
Bluebottle tentacles will cause a sharp, painful sting if they are touched, which is aggravated by rubbing the area. Intense pain may be felt from a few minutes to many hours and develops into a dull ache which then spreads to surrounding joints. The affected area develops a red line with small white lesions. In severe cases blisters and weals looking like a string of beads may appear. Victims may exhibit signs of shock. Children, asthmatics and people with allergies can be badly affected and many cases of respiratory distress have been reported in Australia.

If stinging occurs, leave the water immediately. If any part of the animal is still sticking to the skin, it should be gently lifted off with tweezers or a gloved hand. This will minimise the firing of more stinging capsules. Do not rub the area with wet sand or towel, or wash with alcohol as this will only make it worse. For milder stings, ice packs or local anaesthetic sprays are often effective in reducing pain. In extreme cases resuscitation may be needed and medical attention should be sought.
Bluebottles are not always obvious in the water. Tentacles may break away from the colony in the surf and inflict stings just as potent as those from attached tentacles. Even dead specimens stranded on the beach can still cause stings. To avoid being stung do not touch these animals with bare skin and do not enter the water if they are present. Bluebottles are more common on exposed ocean beaches after strong onshore winds and are rarely found in sheltered waters.

Read this for the right way to threat a sting

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