The creature that is not one animal but four fused together
This is not one animal. It is four, fused into a single creature that cannot survive apart.
Which one is REALLY true about the Portuguese Man o' War?
The short version
The Portuguese man o' war looks like a jellyfish but is a siphonophore — a colony of cloned zooids, each specialised for one job. One forms the gas float, others the stinging tentacles that trail up to thirty metres, others digest, others only reproduce. None can live alone, and it has no brain, heart or means of swimming.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Portuguese Man o' War is not one animal but a colony of tiny cloned organisms called zooids, each built for a single job.
- ✓The Portuguese Man o' War looks like a jellyfish but is actually a siphonophore, something far stranger.
- ✓The Portuguese Man o' War floats because one zooid becomes a gas-filled bag that holds the whole colony at the surface.
- ✓The Portuguese Man o' War trails stinging tentacles that can hang thirty metres down below the float.
- ✓The Portuguese Man o' War has no brain, no heart and no way to swim, so it drifts wherever the wind pushes it.
You could line up about 4 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This is not one animal. It is four, fused into a single creature that cannot survive apart. Meet the Portuguese man o' war, which looks like a jellyfish but is something far stranger, a siphonophore. It is a colony of tiny organisms called zooids, each one a clone, and each one specialised for a single job. One becomes the gas-filled float that keeps the whole thing at the surface. Others form the tentacles, which can trail thirty metres down and are loaded with stinging cells. Others do nothing but digest food, and others only reproduce. None of them can survive alone. It has no brain, no heart, and no way to swim, so it simply drifts wherever the wind pushes it. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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Portuguese Man o' War gallery
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“The Portuguese Man o' War is not one animal but a colony of tiny cloned organisms called zooids, each built for a single job.”
“The Portuguese Man o' War is a nocturnal bird from the forests of Central and South America.”
“The Portuguese Man o' War looks like a jellyfish but is actually a siphonophore, something far stranger.”