Portuguese Man-of-War

— Any time we go to Port Aransas, Texas, walking on the beach is a favorite pastime for us. The scenery is so varied that one can spend a few hours just strolling along and watching wildlife and things washed ashore. The Portuguese man-of-war is one of the most common sightings along the beach. Even though they may look like jellyfish, they are not that. In fact, according to National Geographic, the Portuguese man-of-war is “a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together.” It is an invertebrate carnivore comprised of four polyps. For humans, they can deliver a strong sting and cause excruciating pain, even the ones dead on the shore. For other fish and small animals, they are deadly. The video below shows one Portuguese man-of-war still moving.