Portuguese Men O' War Are Peculiar! Quiz

Answer: Atlantic, Indian, Pacific

The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) prefers to live in a tropical or subtropic warm-water environment. Commonly found in open ocean, the man o' war does find its way to shore and has been seen in abundance off the coast of Florida and the Hawaiian Islands, off the Karachi coast in Pakistan, and in parts of Australia and New Zealand, particularly during the months of June, July, and August. Cases have been reported, however, of the animals being found as far north as Ireland or the Bay of Fundy in Canada.

The Portuguese man o' war floats on the surface of the water and typically can be found in large groups numbering in the thousands.

Answer: True

According to an article in "National Geographic", whether or not the sting of the Portuguese man o' war is poisonous to humans depends on who and where the victim is stung. Because women and children typically have thinner skin than men, they are more at risk.

There are, however, parts of the body where the skin is thicker than others. The example in the article explained that if a child would be stung in the neck, the chances of the sting being lethal are greater. The skin is thin there and the venom might be injected into the bloodstream more easily. On the other hand, a man who is stung in the back may only feel the discomfort equal to having a splinter embedded there.

The bottom line? While there are instances of the Portuguese man o' war causing the death of a human, they are rare.

It is more likely that the sting will cause excruciating pain.

Answer: Siphonophore

Contrary to popular belief, the Portuguese man o' war is NOT a jellyfish, but fossil evidence shows that it has been around 600 million years! Jellyfish are single-celled organisms, while men o' wars are siphonophores. What that means is that a Portuguese man o' war is a colonial organism, made up of small creatures that are connected to each other. Each individual part has its own function and the creature needs all parts to work correctly in order to exist.

In fact, because all of the individual parts work together and are needed in order for the Portuguese man o' war to survive, they do not have the ability to live on their own without the others in the group.

Answer: They look like a Portuguese warship.

The term "man o' war" originated in the 16th century with members of the British navy. They used the term, also known as "man-of-war" or "man", to describe large warships. This type of ship was usually powered with sails, but carried a cannon on board. Portuguese men o' war (that is the plural usage) were first constructed in the early 1400s and boasted two masts rather than one.

The Portuguese man o' war received its name because it was thought to resemble the Portuguese warships when they were at full sail.

Answer: Small fish

The Portuguese man o' war is a carnivore. It stings small fish and other marine animals, paralyzing them with the venom in its tentacles, and then uses the tentacles to bring its prey to its digestive site. Other food choices include shrimp and plankton.

Interestingly, there is a small fish, called a man-of-war fish or shepherd fish, that seems to be unaffected from the stinging tentacles. It lives among them and even feeds on the smaller ones.

Answer: False

The tentacles of a Portuguese man o' war can grow to lengths of 165 feet - although the average size is 50 feet long - but tentacles do not help the animal swim. He is actually at the mercy of the winds, tides, and currents, which take him where he goes; that is what causes large numbers of the animals to be stranded on the beach.

In February 2017, there was a report of bluebottle (another name for the man o' war) stings up 900% off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It was written that more than 38,000 people were stung in one summer season.

More were washing up on the beach due to the wind conditions! Yikes!

Answer: Gas

The bladder, which is 3.5-11.8 inches across and is typically protrudes about 6 inches out of the water, is filled with atmospheric gases. These gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, diffuse into the sail. It has been estimated that as much as 14% of the gas is carbon monoxide. Believe it or not, there is also a siphon that allows the Portuguese man o' war a quick escape when threatened.

It can quickly deflate and spend a bit of time completely underwater before it must resurface and its sail begins to fill again.

Answer: Great White Shark

The loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) has very thick skin - even in its tongue - which the stings of the Portuguese man o' war cannot puncture. Interestingly, the blanket octopus (Tremoctopus violaceus) not only feeds on the Portuguese man o' war, but also carries away its broken tentacles, using them for whatever purpose that suits.

Although the ocean sunfish (Mola mola) would rather eat jellyfish, he will also dine on the Portuguese man o' war. What does a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) eat? Large fish, manta rays, other sharks, sea turtles, sea otters, and even seabirds are part of its diet - but not a Portuguese man o' war.

Answer: True

A tentacle can cause a painful sting on a person EVEN if it has been severed from the rest of the body. When studying the structure of the tentacle, it appears that it is made of many beads joined together. Each of the beads contains stinging cells called nematocysts, which cause severe pain, lacerations, and even respiratory distress. And take special note: even if the animal has been beached or is dead, the tentacles can still sting and should not be touched.

Answer: Polyps

The Portuguese man o' war consists of four polyps that are also called zooids. The polyp on the top, that looks like an umbrella, is either purple, blue, and pink, and enables it to float. It is called the pneumatophore. Three polyps are under the pneumatophore. One, the dactylozooids, has the tentacles, the gastrozooids is responsible for digesting food, and the gonozooid is responsible for reproduction.

When the Portuguese men o' war swim together, they do not mate as is the case of other animals.

Some of them release sperm; some release eggs. Whether or not they join together is left to chance.