Physalia physalis
(Linnaeus, 1758) · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Physalia physalis's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation20 languages↗
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility10 085 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System2 023 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI129 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics19 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
upright=1.21 The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war, is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be the same species as the Pacific man o' war or blue bottle, which is found mainly in the Pacific Ocean. The Portuguese man o' war is the only species in the genus Physalia, which in turn is the only genus in the family Physaliidae. The Portuguese man o' war is a conspicuous member of the neuston, the community of organisms that live at the ocean surface. It has numerous venomous microscopic nematocysts which deliver a painful sting powerful enough to kill fish, and has been known to occasionally kill humans. Although it superficially resembles a jellyfish, the Portuguese man o' war is in fact a siphonophore. Like all siphonophores, it is a colonial organism, made up of many smaller units called zooids. All zooids in a colony are genetically identical, but fulfill specialized functions such as feeding and reproduction, and together allow the colony to operate as a single individual.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat & environment2
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Physalia physalis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Physalia physalis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Record type12 108 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions14 of 34 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Washington, US | 20 |
| South Kensington, GB | 20 |
| 12 | |
| Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallerylocation not on record | 12 |
| DASSHlocation not on record | 8 |
| Museums Victorialocation not on record | 8 |
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 7 |
| Natick, US | 7 |
| New Haven, US | 5 |
| CASlocation not on record | 4 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 4 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 4 |
| Cambridge, US | 4 |
| Sydney, AU | 3 |
| Australian National Fish Collectionlocation not on record | 3 |
| Auckland, NZ | 3 |
| Paris, FR | 2 |
| Universidad Católica del Nortelocation not on record | 2 |
| Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territorylocation not on record | 2 |
| Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Museumlocation not on record | 2 |
| AADClocation not on record | 2 |
| Barcelona, ES | 2 |
| Sistema de Colecciones Biológicas, Escuela de Biología, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala location not on record | 1 |
| RMNHlocation not on record | 1 |
| South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversitylocation not on record | 1 |
| UM-RSMASlocation not on record | 1 |
| Tapachula, MX | 1 |
| Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Campus Sisal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxicolocation not on record | 1 |
| Centre for Biodiversity Genomicslocation not on record | 1 |
| FCMMlocation not on record | 1 |
| Montgomery, US | 1 |
| Masindi, UG | 1 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 1 |
| Chicago, US | 1 |
Where the DNA of Physalia physalis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Measured at samplingin-field
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.