The Portuguese Man-Of-War, small scale version of a battleship.

The Portuguese man-of-war is also known as the blue bottle which is what it resembles while floating. It may look like a pretty colored object drifting while you spend your summer holiday swimming at the beach. But beneath this beautiful object are many tentacles that will give you a sting that will leave a scar on you for the rest of your life. Despite how the man-of-wars look like, it is not a jellyfish, it is a siphonophore. A siphonophore is not a single organism, but a colonial organism made up of many minute individuals called zooids. These zooids are not capable of independent survival.

The name man-of-war comes from the 16^th century armed sailing ship called the Portuguese galley. Doesn’t really look like one in my opinion, it looks so much more like an alien spaceship that hunts for human brains using long tentacles while it floats around the sky. Okay, maybe too imaginative. But seriously, it doesn’t look much like an old century war galley. It loves the warmer waters and is most commonly found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific and Indian oceans and in the northern Atlantic Gulf Stream. Man-of-wars like the galley have no means of propulsion and will just float wherever the tide, current and wind brings it to. Strong winds may bring them onto beaches. Just like those jellyfishes at Tanjung Aru Beach, when kids enjoy walking around the beach looking for an up-turned jellyfish to poke. The man-of-war does not come alone; it brings all its friends and family together to have a huge sting party. At some places in the world, the finding of one single man-of-war might lead to the closing of the whole beach.

I won’t go into scientific details as most of my other posts are. There is lots of information about how the structure of the man-of-war is formed, so do your research if you’re interested. Next, let’s talk about the fun part, its venom. Did you know that this species and the smaller Indo-Pacific man-of-war are responsible for up to 10,000 human stings in Australia each summer? This usually happens on the east coast, with some occurring off the course of Southern Australia and Western Australia. Their venom can paralyze small fishes and prey. Even those that are dead (washed up on shore), or their detached tentacles, can remain potent for hours and days. Stings cause severe pain to humans; you’ll look like you’ve been whipped. The venom might also cause an allergic reaction such as fever, shock or an interference with heart and lung functions. Sounds scary? Yup!

Here is a small guide on how to treat a man-of-war sting that I copied off Wikipedia.

1.       To avoid any further contact with the Portuguese man-of-war and to carefully remove any remnants of the organism from the skin (taking care not to touch them directly with your fingers and any other part of your body to avoid secondary stinging)

2.       Next is to apply salt water to the affected area (not fresh water which tends to make the affected area worse)

3.       Follow up with the application of hot water (45 Celsius/ 113 Fahrenheit) to the affected area anywhere between 15 to 20 minutes which eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins.

4.       If eyes have been affected, irrigate with copious amounts of room-temperature water for at least 15 minutes. If vision blurs or the eyes continue to hurt, tear, swell or show light sensitivity after irrigating, or there is any concern, see a doctor as soon as possible.

It is known that vinegar does not work for the man-of-war stings, not only that, it adds up to the pain as well. So never use vinegar unless you’re asking to visit hell for more excitement. Also make sure to identify whether the sting is from a man-of-war or a jellyfish to avoid the wrong treatment.

The Portuguese man-of-war is a carnivore, feeding on small fishes that it paralyzes with its venomous tentacles. Preys include the loggerhead turtle, which has skin that is too thick for the sting to penetrate. The sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus) and the violet snail (Janthina janthina) also feeds on the man-of-war. The blanket octopus is immune to the sting and younger specimens carry broken off tentacles of the man-of-war presumably for offensive or defensive purposes. Lastly, the ocean sunfish also loves munching on the man-of-war. There is also one small fish called the man-of-war fish that lives among the tentacles of the man-of-war. It is partially immune to the stings. It tends to avoid the larger tentacles but feed right off the smaller ones. Other marine life such as the clown fish also resides under the tentacles. This in turn attracts other fish that eats the smaller fish and without it knowing, got trapped in the dangerous tentacles of the man-of-war. So this is how friendship works in the ocean.

So next time you think the ocean is polluted with shiny blue, pink, purple-ish rubbish, think again, you better start swimming to shore.