Range: Tropical and semi-tropical waters worldwide Habitat: Open ocean Size: About 1 foot (30.5cm) long; About 0.5 feet (15cm) tall; Tentacles on average 30 feet (9m) long; Tentacles up to 165 feet (50m) long Diet: Fish and crustaceans Threats: Marine birds, fish, crustaceans, sea turtles, barnacles, sea snails, and blue sea dragons Life span: Unknown

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about the Portuguese man-of-war. Often referred to as jellyfish, a Portuguese man of war is actually no such thing - heck, they aren’t even really a single organism. Portguese men of war - that’s the plural we’re going with - are siphonophores, which are animals made up of many animals.

The single “animal” we see when looking at a Portuguese man of war is actually a colony of smaller animals called zooids. In this system that is called the Portuguese man of war, the zooids have four main functions: floating, stinging, eating, and making babies. If this seems confusing just bare with us, we have more to talk about on this subject. These animals got their name because they look like old war ships floating around the oceans. Sometimes Portuguese men of war are referred to as blue buttons or by the wind sailors, but these common names are probably better suited for two different but similar looking species - one which we’ve previously discussed and another that we have yet to talk about.

Portuguese men of war are often known as the blue “jellyfish” that wash up on beaches. Of course, you already know that these creatures aren’t jellyfish, but did you also know they can sting you after death - well you might because the thumbnail gave that away, but that’s beside the point. Portuguese men of war have a strong sting that can cause swelling, redness, and pain in humans. They often aren’t fatal to us, but they can be quite fatal to their prey.

Portuguese men of war eat young fish, small adult fish, and crustaceans like shrimp and plankton. These animals are caught in the man of war’s stinging tentacles, moved to the area where all the feeding zooids are found, and consumed by the eating zooids. The nutrients are then passed around to all the other zooids so the whole colony gets nutrients. This is all a bit… weird, but the best way we can think to describe it is to think of a tree. The roots are the part of the tree that pull up water from the ground. The roots are the only part of the tree that work in this way. But then that water gets passed around to all the other parts of the tree, the bark, the trunk, the leaves, so that the tree as a whole is happy. That’s kind of like how a colony organism works. Each piece plays a role in the survival of the whole. It’s kind of like a termite colony, too. Each member has its role and as long as the roles are being fulfilled the colony survives - though termites are often talked about as individuals to a system.

Though Portuguese men of war are often seen on beaches, they actually live in the open ocean in most tropical and semi-tropical waters throughout the world. The “sail” of a man of war is like a sac that keeps the animal floating atop the water column. They don’t have any means of propulsion, so they rely on wind and water currents to push them along. This can contribute to them landing on beaches, however, they can be either right or let-sailed, so that helps keep them widely distributed. The gas in a Portuguese man of war’s sail can be released in an attempt to avoid predators such as seafaring birds from above. Other predators to Portuguese men of war include fish, crustaceans, sea turtles, barnacles, sea snails, and blue sea dragons!

Though they don’t push themselves through the water, the currents often lead them to form large groups. When this happens, the Portuguese men of war are likely to breed. It’s important for a single colony to meet up with another colony because all the zooids in a colony are either only male or only female, which means they need another man of war of the opposite sex in order to reproduce. There isn’t much information on the breeding habits of Portuguese men of war but it’s thought the reproductive zooids will all release either sperm or eggs into the water column at the same time and the eggs will become fertilized externally.

In size, the Portuguese man of war’s can grow to be a foot long (30.5 centimeters) and half a foot (15 centimeters) tall. Their stinging tentacles have been recorded up to 165 feet (50 meters) in length, though 30 feet (9 meters) is the average length. And because they’re siphonophores they’re somewhat related to the flying spaghetti monster - yeah, that’s the name of a real animal.

For more facts on Portugese men-of-war, check out the links in the description. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.