The Portuguese man-of-war is a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together. The man-of-war comprises four separate polyps. It gets its name from the uppermost polyp ...

Once in formation as a unified Portuguese man o’ war, these zooids specialize so that each performs a specific function that helps the colony to thrive. For instance, some zooids enable the ...

Often mistaken for jellyfish, the Portuguese Man o’ War is a siphonophore — a specialised colony of zooids that function together as a single organism. It is easily identified by its balloon ...