Monday, July 6, 2009

A Colony of Organisms Creates One Man-Of-War

The Portugese Man-of-War resembles a jellyfish, but it’s not even related to one; in fact, it’s a siphonophore, which is an animal made up of multiple organisms. The man-of-war is made up of four separate parts: the large jellyfish-looking bladder, the mass of tentacles, one part containing digestive organisms and one made up of reproductive organisms. Altogether, these four different kinds of organisms create a larger than six-foot long mass that has venomous tentacles up to 165 feet long. These animals can be sometimes found in groups of 1,000 in warm waters. In the event of a sting, they would most likely just cause pain instead of death to a human, although their tentacles are quite venomous.

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