Man O' War
Physalia physalis
A floating colony sails with a curtain of stingers.
A Portuguese man o' war is not one jellyfish but a colony of specialized animals called zooids. A gas-filled float catches the wind while long tentacles fish below.
Find this SeaPal in the card gallery
From field guide to game table
Bring this Man O' War home
See which ready-to-play decks feature this SeaPal. Try one in the simulator before you buy, or explore each full deck list.
- 2 copies
Ready-to-play deck
Open Ocean Deck
Includes 2 cards featuring Man O' War.
Quick dive
Creature passport
- Home
- It drifts on the surface of warm Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean waters.
- Favorite foods
- Stinging tentacles capture fish larvae, small fishes, shrimp, and other plankton.
- Size check
- Float to about 12 in (30 cm); tentacles can trail over 30 ft (9 m)
Tell-your-friends facts
Four wonderfully wild things
- 1
Different zooids handle floating, feeding, defense, or reproduction for the colony.
- 2
The colony cannot swim and travels mainly with wind and currents.
- 3
Some floats lean left and others right, spreading colonies in different directions.
- 4
Detached or beached tentacles may still sting and should never be touched.
Ocean superpower
Built to be amazing
Thousands of stinging capsules fire microscopic venom threads on contact.
Junior scientist tip
What should I look for?
Watch for a blue-purple gas float shaped like a tiny translucent sailboat.
Grown-up research links
We used trusted science organizations to check this profile.