Portuguese Man of War facts: not a jellyfish | Animal Fact Files

A Portuguese man of war might look like a jellyfish, but it isn't one. A Portuguese man of war is a siphonophore and is thus a colony organism. Many individual zooids come together to form the organism we call the man of war. Together, they can develop rather long tentacles which are used for catching prey and defending the colony.

Scientific Name: Physalia physalis
Range: Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans
Size: sail can grow to be a foot long (30.5cm) and half a foot (15cm) tall; tentacles have been recorded up to 165 feet (50m) in length
Diet: young fish, small adult fish, and crustaceans like shrimp and plankton
Life Span: n/a

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