Physalia physalis or the Portuguese Man O War as it is better known is commonly mistaken for a jellyfish. Although i closely resembles a jellyfish there are ways to tell them apart. First off they have an air sac at the top of the body instead of the bell shape of the common jellyfish. The air sac at the top is a sail shape. Their tentacles are equipped with nematocysts. The nematocysts on P. physalis are activated by a trigger, so even when the tentacles are removed they can sting you weeks after.

 

P. physalis can be found in any part of the world due to the fact that they move with the current and wind. The role the man o war plays is as a predator. They do well in the ocean because they can float with their sail and few animals can live once they are stung. Some predators that my animal has are the loggerhead sea turtle and a sea slug with like seven different names the one that is most common is its scientific name, Glaucus atlaticus.

 

The man o war evades being eaten with is stinging cells although the animals that are immune eat it. My animal is a predator. It mostly feeds on medium sized fish and other small sea creatures unfortunate enough to find there way to its tentacles. The fact that interested me the most was that they were, in fact, hydras and not a jellyfish-like everyone thinks. Another interesting fact is that it is made of many different parts and not just whole.

 

Author: Logan S

Published: 02/2008

 

Sources:

http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Physaliaphysalis.html Undersea life by Joseph s. Levine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalia_physalis