Despite
appearances, this weird and wonderful creature is not a jellyfish!
They're sometimes found washed up on our shores after westerly winds.
Look but don't touch - they give a very nasty sting.
About
First
of all, the Portuguese Man O'War is not a jellyfish. It is a colonial
hydrozoan, made up of small individual animals called zooids - each with
their own specific function, e.g. feeding or breeding. They can't live
separately and function together as one "animal". Cool, hey? The
Potuguese Man O'War lives at the surface of the open ocean, held afloat
by a gas-filled bladder. This has a crest like structure at the top
which acts as a sail. They can't swim and are at the mercy of the winds -
which is why they often end up washed ashore after big storms. They are
fearsome predators, catching small fish and crustaceans with their long
stinging tentacles. It's these tentacles that you need to watch out for
too - they can sting long after the animal has died. Portuguese Man
O'War are the favourite food of the Violet Sea Snail - a weird floating
sea snail that builds its own bubble raft in order to remain at the
surface and hunt its prey.How to identify
Unmistakeable!
A large translucent purple float, the crest tipped with pink, and long
blueish-violet tentacles. The float is seen bobbing on the surface of
the sea, sometimes caught in mats of seaweed. They lose their colour
quickly after stranding and can appear translucent with just a tinge of
purple after a while ashore.Distribution
A
pelagic (open ocean) species. Blown into UK seas on westerly winds and
washed ashore on the West Coast of the UK. Mainly Isles of Scilly and
Cornwall, but increasingly West and North Wales and as far north as
Cumbria.Did you know?
The Portuguese Man O'War is
named after the 18th Century armed sailing ship - as its believed they
look like one at full sail. Its other name is Floating Terror!
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