Today I will be talking about the Portuguese Man O’ (Of) War. They are referred to as a “zooid” because they are not one organism, but are made up of multiple organisms that work together in their own form performing their own functions. They are also not considered jellyfish, but belong to another related group known as “siphonophores” (all are zooids). Their most identifiable feature is their gas filled crest, known as a “pneumatophore,” allows them to float at the surface of the water and be carried by the wind. It can be blue, purple, or pink in color and be about 6 inches tall. Its shape resembles an old Portuguese warship at full sail (called “Man of War”) which is how it got its name. But don’t be fooled by their tops, because their tentacles below the water can reach an average length of 30 feet, but have been found to be as long as 165 feet! These tentacles are equipped with nematocysts (stinging cells) that help them paralyze and kill fish. To a human the toxins are painful but rarely deadly. If you remember the Glaucus atlanticus (the blue dragon) from a while back, they're a predator of the portuguese man of war and can eat their tentacles and incorporate the toxins into their bodies! The last two individual organismal functions are their digestive tract and reproductive organs located in the middle area between their crest and tentacles. They have actually been found to be single sexed, either just with male or female reproductive organs. Invertebrates, like these, are nearly unaffected my human impacts because they can survive in water conditions vertebrates cannot, like anoxic environments. So when their predators, like turtles or the sunfish (Mola Mola), become depleted and water quality conditions make it uninhabitable for other organisms, they will flourish! This is a sign of an unbalanced ecosystem. For our planet to survive to its fullest potential, ecosystems must be balanced and HUMANS must understand how to coexist with the natural world!
Originally posted on 12 May 2019
(not my pictures)
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