Man-of-war :: essays research papers fc

Man-of-War     The Portuguese jellyfish if a member of the Kingdom Animalia, phylumCnidaria(1), sort Hydrozoa, order Siphonophra, the genus Physalia, and thespecies Physalia(2).     The man-of-war is not an actual jellyfish, but a Siphonophor. overly theman-of-war is not a single organism. It is made up of many different organismsthat work together. These organisms atomic number 18 called polyps.     The Portuguese man-of-war is usually set in the Northern Atlantic gulfstream. It can also be found in the tropical and subtropical regions of theIndian and Pacific Oceans.     The man-of-war pass on usually travel in groups, that may contain up to onethousand members.     The main portion of the man-of-wars body is an oblong gas-filled vesica. The bladder is usually nine to thirty centimeters long, and is atranslucent pink, blue, or purple. On top of the bladder is a c relievo. Thi s is tocatch the wind, and move the man-of-war along. at a lower place the bladder, hang longstringy tentacles, that can reach a duration of up to fifty meters. The tentaclesare made-up of three different types of polyps. The name calling of these three polypsare dactylozooid, gonozooid, and gastrozooid. The polyps are the parts thatcapture prey, digest prey, and reproduce. The dactylozooids perplex cells callednematocysts(3). The nematocysts release a toxin(4) into anything that they comeinto contact with. The gastrozooids then attach to the dead/stunned victim, andspread over it. They digest it, and transfer food to the rest of the man-of-war.Last, the gonozooids create other polyps. The means by which the man-of-warreproduces, however, is not insofar understood.     The fish Nomeus gronvii lives among the tentacles of the man-of-war.This fish, which is eight centimeters long, is mostly immune to the man-of-warstoxin. It will eat the tentacles, which will g row back, as its main source offood. Although it is mostly immune to the man-of-wars toxin, the man-of-warwill sometimes end up eating it.     The enemies of the man-of-war are the Nomeus gronvii, and the loggerheadturtle.     If you were to get stung by a man-of-war, you would experience a verypainful sensation where you got stung. The toxin that the man-of-war uses blocksnerve conduction. This causes a trying systematic syndrome. This is accompaniedby a fever, possibly shock, and interference with nubble and lung functions.Bibliography"Portuguese man-of-war," Encyclopedia Britannica. 1988, University of ChicagoVol. IX, p.634-35"Portuguese man-of-war," Animal Kingdom. 1972, United States of the States Vol.XVIII, p.88-93Caras, Roger. Venomous Animals of the World. United States of America 1974, p.17-18hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us,http//hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us/kaipo/invertebrate/welcomeinv.html, UnitedStates of America hill side.sowashco.k12.mn.us, 1997Microsoft Encarta 1996. te Valley Ca., Microsoft Corporation, 1997