Did you know that the Portuguese Man o' War is not a true jellyfish, but a colony of many, many microscopic organisms called
zooids? Together, their association results in a majestic, and potentially deadly marine organism called a
siphonophore; apart, they cannot survive. The downward-hanging tentacles, averaging 30 feet in length, employ millions of stinging organelles, called
nematocysts, to catch and kill its prey within seconds. A distinct group of zooids is then responsible for digestion of prey items, while another forms the gas-filled "sail" which controls the organism's position at or below the ocean's surface.
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Portuguese Man o' War.
How do they reproduce then? Is it like in a normal body where the cells have specific jobs to form organs which have also have specific jobs? It seems like these zooids are analogous to cells.
ReplyDeleteZooids are cells, or groups of cells. The Man o' War reproduces first sexually (sperm and egg), and then asexually, as the larvae bud off to multiply rapidly.
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