11 Portuguese Man O War characteristics & Life Cycle

The Portuguese man o war (Physalia physalis) is a siphonophore, a genus of creatures closely related to jellyfish. Now take a look on their different characteristics below.

  • The Portuguese Man O War, like a jellyfish, has a big gelatinous float with trailing tentacles; however, the Man-o-bladder War’s (float) is actually loaded with gases such as carbon monoxide.
  • The bladder of Portuguese man o war may grow up to 12 inches long and 5 inches wide, and it sits approximately 6 inches above the water’s surface (like a sail).
  • The tentacles reach beneath the water’s surface, averaging 30 feet in length and sometimes much more.
  • Long strands of tentacles and polyps lurk beneath the float, reaching lengths of up to 100 feet.
  • The Tentacles contain stinging nematocysts, which are minute capsules that contain coiled, barbed tubes and venom, capable of paralysing small fish and crustaceans.
  • The multicolored Portuguese man-o-war colony is a sight to behold both on its own and as it travels amid hundreds of other colonies.
  • Each Man-o-War colony, like a siphonophore, is made up of four unique types of polyps that cannot survive without the help of others.
  • The wind and ocean currents push the gas-filled polyp (pneumatophore) sail above the sea. The reproduction is the responsibility of the polyp (gonozooid).
  • Food digestion is the responsibility of the polyp (gastrozooid). The stinging tentacles protect the colony while also catching prey (dactylozooids).
  • The Portuguese man-o-war has a distinctive transparent blue and purple color that helps it blend in with the blue ocean waves.
  • Depending on water temperature and other factors, the typical Portuguese man-o-war can live for at least a year. Individual man-o-war colonies are made up of either all-female or all-male polyps. 
799px Portuguese Man o War at Pa
Image credits: Portuguese Man o’ War by Volkan Yuksel (CC BY-SA 3.0) from Wikimedia Commons

Portuguese man o war size

The man o war float are long strands of tentacles and polyps that grow to an average feet which is given in detail below.

The Portuguese man-o-war has a 25 cm (10 inch) long float with several tentacles up to 30 meters (100 feet) long. The smaller bluebottle has a 10 cm (4 inches) long float and only one major tentacle up to 3 meters (10 feet) long. Weight varies with size.

The species may range in size from 9 to 30 cm (3.5 to 11.8 in) and can stretch up to 15 cm (5.9 in) above the water’s surface.

Portuguese man o war life cycle

The Portuguese man o’ war was called for its similarity to 18th century Portuguese vessels. Let us see their lifecycle in brief.

  • The man-of-war is designed to spend their whole life at sea. It floats along the surface, helped by the big float, being blown by the wind and carried by currents.
  • A colony is initiated by a tiny swimming stage known as a larva, resulting from the fusing of an egg and sperm from mature parent colonies. The larva creates its colony through a process known as budding.
  • When new colonies form, their floats tilt to the left or right, ensuring that they drift in diverse directions and spread out more equally throughout the ocean.
  • Typically, reproduction occurs in the autumn. The polyp responsible for reproduction is known as a gonozooid, and it is formed of gonophores, with sacs holding ovaries in females and testes in men. External fertilization occurs when organisms lose their gametes in the water.
  • In a mature colony, specialized individuals (gonozooids) create the eggs and sperm, resulting in new larval forms.
  • The gonophores, which are found on branch-like structures known as gonodendrons, generate either egg or sperm.
  • A colony’s sperm combines with another colony’s eggs. The cause of this spawning cycle is unclear. This oceanic hydrozoan, on the other hand, would reproduce by mitotic division or budding.
  • The original individual splits and divides again, generating new individuals until the colony is created.
  • A fertilized egg grows into a larva and begins to produce zooids. Typically, growth occurs underwater. Pneumatophores are the first to be developed, followed by gastrozooids and tentacle-bearing zooids.
  • The pneumatophore finally becomes buoyant enough to allow the colony to float on the water’s surface.
  • When powerful winds drive man-of-wars into shallow coastal waters, half of them will be swept away from the beach and are more likely to survive. If a man-o-war is caught, it will be eaten by sea turtles, some fish, and crabs.

Effects Portuguese man o war sting

The Portuguese man of war is an open ocean predator. Let us explore this in detail.

  • Man-of-war tentacles feature coiled stingers with venom that is both potent and terrible. Tentacles may reach lengths of 165 feet. The sting of the man-of-war is designed to immobilize tiny fish until they can be eaten.
  • Tentacles sting and leave long, stringy red welts on the skin. The welts might linger for several minutes to many hours.
  • Small fish and other victims may be paralysed by the stinging, venom-filled nematocysts found in the tentacles of the Portuguese man o war.
  • Detached tentacles and dead specimens may hurt equally as powerfully as living organisms in the water, and the sting can linger for hours or even days after the species dies or tentacles detach.

Portuguese man o war vs blue bottle

The bluebottles look and behave similarly to the Portuguese Man of War. Let us see the difference among them in brief.

Portuguese Man O WarBlue Bottle
The Man o war has several smaller stingers that are normally organized from short to long.The blue bottles have one large “tentacle,”
Portuguese man-o-wars are free-floating cnidarians with blue gas-filled bladders and lengthy tentacles that float on the ocean’s surface.The Bluebottle is a colony of siphonophores same like portuguese man o war, which are hydroids with extremely specialized functions.
The Man o war are bigger and more venomousThe blue bottle is less venomous
Difference between Portuguese man o war and blue bottle

Conclusion

From the above article, it can be concluded that, Portuguese man o war is not a jellyfish, but rather a siphonophore. They are incapable of swimming. Instead, it is propelled forward by wind and ocean currents.

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