Blog Homepage 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. Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience. Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.
