Portuguese Man o' War

Hello! On Memorial Day some friends and I took a trip to Padre Island National Seashore to enjoy the day. It was a lot of fun as usual and the day was beautiful. The waves were pretty big this time and there was a lot of sargassum seaweed washed up on the shore along with a very interesting creature.

The Portuguese Man o' War - Physalia physalis! The Man o' War is like a jellyfish but differs in that instead of being a single organism it is a colony of organisms called zooids. During our trips to Padre Island in the summer we always see them and I saw about 10 washed up on the beach and one floating in the surf during the few hours we were there. They ranged in size from a golf ball to a grapefruit (but are irregular shaped as apposed to round). They are beautiful creatures and also very deadly. Like jellyfish they are capable of using stinging cells to capture prey, such as small fish, and for defense against predators. It is best to use caution around the Man o' War and to not touch them even when they are washed up (the stinging cells will still sting).

As you can see from the photo above there is a bit of seaweed and the surf was strong. But everyone was have a really fun time!

The beautiful Sargassum seaweed. It is home to many many different animals! We have found various species of shrimp, blue crabs, sargassum crabs, seahorses, pipefish, sargassum fish, sergeant majors, filefish, and a few other species of juvenile fish living in the seaweed itself. I love the golden color...

Portuguese Man o'War - Physalia physalis , one of the larger specimens we found washed up.

It is a beautiful and amazing creature. The colors remind me of a watercolor painting. I think it is becoming one of my favorite animals of the Texas beach (maybe until I get stung) :D