Portuguese Man-of-War Navigator A colourful model of the Portuguese Man-of-War sea creature - Physalia arethusa. Portuguese man-of-war Navigator The Portuguese man-of-war is actually not a single animal, but a 'siphonophore', an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together. Use the links below to navigate around the Portuguese man-of-war and discover more about this remarkable creature. The float Polyps anchoring the tentacles Tentacles The float The man-of-war floats on a gas-filled, blue to pink, translucent body called a 'float'. Above this there is a crest (only a few inches tall) that acts like a sail, moving the animal across the seas. It is the sail that gives the man-of-war its name, because it resembles old Portuguese warships. Polyps anchoring the tentacles Clusters of polyps anchor the tentacles under the float. There are 3 types of polyps: dactylozooid (that find and catch prey with poisonous stingers called nematocysts), gonozooid (that reproduce), and gastrozooid (that digest food, like a stomach). Tentacles The coiled, stinging tentacles can be up to 50m (165 feet) long. Related Features Article Sea creatures of the deep - the Blaschka Glass models 15 May 2007 Article Spectacular glass sea creatures of the deep 16 May 2007 Article Repairing the irreplaceable - Conserving the Blaschka glass models 16 May 2007 Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.
