Physalia
Sign in to savePhysalia is a genus of hydrozoan cnidarians within the monotypic family Physaliidae, commonly known as '''man o' wars or bluebottles'. They are siphonophores, colonial organisms composed of specialized individual zooids that function together as a single unit. Unlike most siphonophores, which are planktonic, Physalia'' species are neustonic, living at the ocean-air interface.
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3 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy and systematics
- Species
- References
Physalia is a genus of hydrozoan cnidarians within the monotypic family Physaliidae, commonly known as '''man o' wars or bluebottles'. They are siphonophores, colonial organisms composed of specialized individual zooids that function together as a single unit. Unlike most siphonophores, which are planktonic, Physalia species are neustonic, living at the ocean-air interface.
== Taxonomy and systematics == The genus Physalia'' was established by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1801. The type species, the Atlantic Portuguese man o' war, was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as Holothuria physalis.