Thalassophobia

#dangerousanimal #deepseacreatures #weirdestanimals The Portuguese man o’ war, also known as the bluebottle, is often called a jellyfish, but is actually a species of siphonophore, a group of animals that are closely related to jellyfish. Found mostly in tropical and subtropical waters, the Portuguese man o’ war lives at the surface of the ocean. Since they constantly float in the ocean and their only way of locomotion is through wind and wave action, they can get trapped in shallow waters. Like all siphonophores, it is a colonial organism, made up of many smaller units called zooids. All zooids in a colony are genetically identical, but fulfill specialized functions such as feeding and reproduction, and together allow the colony to operate as a single individual. The pneumatophore, or bladder, is the most conspicuous part of the man o’ war. It is translucent, tinged blue, purple, pink, or mauve, and may be 9 to 30 centimeters long, and rise as high as 15 cm above the water. The pneumatophore functions as