---
title: "Southern Man-O-War"
description: "Physalia megalista — Other animals. The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war, bluebottle, or sometimes called Caravela Portuguesa (a name of Portuguese origin), is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/southern-man-o-war
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Southern Man-O-War

> Physalia megalista — Other animals. The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war, bluebottle, or sometimes called Caravela Portuguesa (a name of Portuguese origin), is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.

- Scientific name: *Physalia megalista*
- Category: `other` (Other animals)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 2767
- iNaturalist taxon: [1631519](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1631519)

## Names

- en: Southern Man-O-War
- es: Fragata portuguesa

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (1127), AU (956), ZA (275), CL (110), NF (17), MU (4), NA (4), NC (4), UY (4), PF (3)

## Summary

The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war, bluebottle, or sometimes called Caravela Portuguesa (a name of Portuguese origin), is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. While it is typically considered the only species in its genus, Physalia, and family, Physaliidae, genetic evidence suggests there may be more.
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. Although they are morphologically quite different…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o%27_war

## Photo

![Southern Man-O-War](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/southern-man-o-war/medium.jpg)

Photo: george_vaughan · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/348013626

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/southern-man-o-war?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).