The Painful Portuguese Man-of-War
An intriguing creature of tropical and subtropical waters is called the Portuguese Man-of-War (some render it Man o' War or similar), but has been found in colder waters on occasion. Is it an attempt by Portugal to rule the waves? No, it is not from there. The Man-of-War has a floating part that remains above the water, the rest is submerged. This critter is similar to a jellyfish in some ways, especially those very long venomous tentacles that easily fire off painful stings. It's not so much an it , but more of a they . View from above, Physalia physalis , Flickr / Bengt Nyman ( CC BY 2.0 ) Okay, so it's not from Portugal. What about the other part of its handle? It is thought that it has a resemblance to the sails of heavily-armed warships (probably frigates, not galleons) of yesteryear. The upper part acts like a sail, so wind and ocean currents tell it where it's going to go. Although rather small body wise, a flotilla of a thousand of these things cruising along