What is Portuguese man o' war?
{{Taxobox | name = Portuguese man o' war | image = Portuguese Man-O-War (Physalia physalis).jpg | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Cnidaria]] | classis = [[Hydrozoa]] | ordo = [[Siphonophora]] | familia = [[Physaliidae]] | genus = | species = | binomial = ''Physalia physalis'' | binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758) }} The '''Portuguese man o' war''' (''Physalia physalis'') is a [[Cnidaria]]n [[invertebrate]]. It lives in the [[sea]]. It is sometimes called the ''blue bubble'', or ''man-of-war''. Its common name comes from a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] war ship of the 15th and 16th century. The ship had [[triangle|triangular]] [[sail]]s, similar in shape to the [[bladder]] of the man o' war. The Portuguese Man o' War has a [[reputation]] for swarming in groups of thousands. It is also known for its powerful sting. == Structure == ''Physalia'' is not a single animal: it is a [[siphonophore]]. This is a [[Colony (biology)|colony]] of four kinds of [[zooid]]s. Zooids are very small, highly [[wikt:modified|modified]] individuals. These zooids are specialized [[polyp]]s and [[Medusa (biology)|medusoids]].<ref>Grzimek B. Schlager N. & Olendorf D. 2003. ''Grzimek's animal life encyclopaedia''. Thomson Gale.</ref> Though structurally similar to other cnidarians, the zooids do not live by themselves: they are attached to each other. Each type of zooid does not have some [[wikt:structure|structure]] and [[wikt:function|functions]]. It depends for survival on the others doing what it cannot do by itself. A similar group of animals are the [[chondrophore]]s. They are specialized [[Hydrozoa|hydroids]], which also float at the surface of the open ocean. == Predators == The [[loggerhead sea turtle|loggerhead turtle]] feeds on the Portuguese man o' war. It is a common part of the turtle's diet.<ref>Brodie. 1989. ''Venomous animals'', Western Publishing.</ref> The skin of the turtle is too thick for the man o' war's sting to enter and launch its [[Venom (poison)|venom]]. The [[sea slug]] ''Glaucus atlantic