They are predominately present during the months of November through April. A fourth polyp contains the reproductive organisms. Muscles in the tentacles draw prey up to a polyp containing the gastrozooids or digestive organisms. Even dead Portuguese Man-of-Wars washed up on shore can deliver a sting. For humans, a Portuguese Man-of-War sting is excruciatingly painful, but rarely deadly. They are covered in venom-filled nematocysts used to paralyze and kill fish and other small creatures. These long, thin tendrils can extend 165 feet in length below the surface, although 30 feet is more the average. T he tentacles are the Portuguese Man-of-War's second organism. ![]() Portuguese Man-of-Wars are also known as bluebottles for the purple-blue color of their pneumatophores. It gets its name from the uppermost polyp, a gas-filled bladder, or pneumatophore, w hich sits above the water and somewhat resembles an old warship at full sail. That tinted pink, blue, or purple gas filled float, similar to a small oblong balloon, is a Portuguese Man-of-War, a siphonophore, an animal made up of a colony of organisms working together. T he Portuguese Man-of-War comprises four separate polyps. The curious beachcomber who picks it up or pops it, could be in for a painful shock. On the beach it’s not unusual to see an object that looks like a harmless blue plastic bag. Don’t sit under beach umbrellas or on aluminum beach chairs. Don’t be the highest object on the horizon, and avoid open spaces.
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