Man-of-war :: essays research papers fc

Man-of-War     The Portuguese man-of-war if a member of the Kingdom Animalia, phylumCnidaria(1), class Hydrozoa, order Siphonophra, the genus Physalia, and thespecies Physalia(2).     The man-of-war is not an actual jellyfish, but a Siphonophor. excessively theman-of-war is not a single organism. It is made up of many different organismsthat work together. These organisms are called polyps.     The Portuguese man-of-war is commonly found in the Northern Atlantic gulfstream. It plenty also be found in the tropical and subtropical regions of theIndian and Pacific Oceans.     The man-of-war exit usually travel in groups, that may contain up to onethousand members.     The main portion of the man-of-wars body is an oblong gas-filledbladder. The bladder is usually nine to 30 centimeters long, and is atranslucent pink, blue, or purple. On top of the bladder is a crest. This is tocatch the wind, and move the man-of-war along. Below the bladder, hang longstringy tentacles, that can reach a length of up to fifty meters. The tentaclesare made-up of three different types of polyps. The names of these three polypsare dactylozooid, gonozooid, and gastrozooid. The polyps are the parts that inhibit prey, digest prey, and reproduce. The dactylozooids have 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 feed 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 yet 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 grow back, as its main source offood. Altho ugh 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 boneheadturtle.     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 severe systematic syndrome. This is come withby a fever, possibly shock, and interference with heart 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 hillside.sowashco.k12.mn.us, 1997Microsoft Encarta 1996. Silicon Valley Ca., Microsoft Corporation, 1997