While it might look like a jellyfish, the man o’ war is a type of animal called a siphonophore (si-FAH-noh-for). Siphonophores are colonial organisms made of genetically identical parts called zooids (ZOH-ids). Though each zooid looks unique, the entire colony developed from a single fertilized egg.

Each zooid plays a specific role within a siphonophore, just as organs each play specific roles in your body. At least seven types of zooids have been identified in the Portuguese man o’ war. They’re connected to each other by a hollow stem. Individually, they could not survive; but together, they are a force to reckon with.

Balloon Sailor

The Portuguese man o’ war is a skilled sailor. In fact, it even looks a bit like a small sailboat. The “sail” or “float” is actually one of the zooids in the colony which forms a balloon-like structure. The zooid pumps the balloon with gases, allowing it to float on waves. If the weather gets rough, the sail can deflate, allowing the colony to sink under the surface.

These bright balloon-like sails appear blue, purple, and pink. They also have a preferred side to cast their sails, leaning either left or right.

Treacherous Tentacles

Another zooid makes up the tentacles on the man o’ war. It feeds the entire colony. These long tentacles are always searching for small fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and plankton, using special light and pressure sensors. When the zooid finds a catch, it launches tiny barbs called nematocysts (NEE-muh-TUH-sists), which are attached to a thread. These barbs send a toxin into the unfortunate creature, paralyzing it.

Tentacles are the most dangerous part of a man o’ war. Even after the colony is dead, the stingers can deliver a painful strike. If you ever come across a man o’ war, alive or dead, don’t touch it!

Monstrous Mouth

The zooid in charge of eating and digestion looks like a bunch of worms with mouths at the end. Although the mouths are normally only about the thickness of a dime (1–2 mm), when food is nearby, they can stretch open as wide as the top of a soda bottle—nearly a full inch!

This zooid will try to digest just about anything that touches the tentacles. Several mouths will grab the prey and then make enzymes that break it down. Finally, the mouths suck the food down to the shared stomach, feeding the whole colony.

After the man o’ war has taken everything it wants, any leftovers will be sent back out through the mouths.

Multiplying Man o’ Wars

Another important zooid of the man o’ war colony produces more man o’ wars. Not only does this zooid have the information to reproduce itself, but it produces the other members of the colony as well. Each colony is either male or female. When a swarm of them gathers, the females produce eggs, and the males produce sperm. After the sperm fertilizes the eggs, they become larvae that will grow into more man o’ wars.

Hunting a Man o’ War

Though its stingers are deadly, the man-of-war has plenty of predators, including loggerhead sea turtles, sea slugs, octopuses, crabs, ocean sunfish, and violet sea snails.

Immune to man o’ war venom, the blue dragon sea slug eats the man o’ war’s tentacles and stores the venomous barbs to use as a weapon against its own predators!

Deadly Design

This creepy creature may sound like something from an alien movie, but the man o’ war is an example of God’s hand in creation. He’s enabled his creatures to survive in a fallen world in fascinating—and sometimes horrifying—ways. Death and terror were not part of God’s original creation, but we can trust that one day Jesus will return and make all things new.

A Sea-worthy Name

The man o’ war gets its name from Portuguese warships. From a distance, the creature’s balloon-like sail looks like a boat on the waves.