Many people know of the Portuguese man o’ war. But did you know that it is not a jellyfish? Its not even one single animal (debatable)! Its a siphonophore and it is a colony of tiny specialized zooids that form the whole thing. Theres even one siphonophore species that can grow longer than a blue whale.

Man o’ wars reproduce both sexuall and asexually. Not at different times, but to form one whole man o’ war. They spread eggs and sperm in the water and when they meet one larvae will be birthed and from that larvae, it will bud asexually to create more zooids to complete itself.

Also they can be found in groups as large as 1,000! Sounds scary.

  • Zizzy@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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    2 months ago

    Theyre closely related to jellyfish so I believe thats why they look so similar. They are also venomous themselves and while not super deadly to humans it will not be pleasant to touch its stinger.