Portuguese man o' war

The Atlantic Portuguese man o' war, also known as the man-of-war, is
a marine hydrozoan of the family Physaliidae found in the Atlantic, Indian and
Pacific Oceans. Its long tentacles deliver a painful sting, which is venomous and
powerful enough to kill fish or (rarely) humans. Despite its appearance, the
Portuguese man o' war is not a true jellyfish but a siphonophore, which is not
actually a single multicellular organism (true jellyfish are single organisms), but
a colonial organism made up of specialized individual animals (of the same
species) called zooids or polyps.

As the Portuguese man o' war has no means of propulsion, they move
according to the winds, currents, and tides. This species and the smaller Indo-
Pacific man o' war (Physalia utriculus) are responsible for up to 10,000 human
stings in Australia each summer, particularly on the east coast, with some
others occurring off the coast of South Australia and Western Australia. One of
the problems with identifying these stings is that the detached tentacles may
drift for days in the water, and the swimmer may not have any idea if they have
been stung by a man o' war or by some other less venomous creature.

Stings usually cause severe pain to humans, leaving whip-like, red welts on the
skin that normally last two or three days after the initial sting, though the pain
should subside after about 1 to 3 hours (depending on the biology of the person
stung). However, the venom can travel to the lymph nodes and may cause
symptoms that mimic an allergic reaction including swelling of the larynx, airway
blockage, cardiac distress, and an inability to breathe Other symptoms can
include fever and shock, and in some extreme cases, even death, although this
is extremely rare. Medical attention for those exposed to large numbers of
tentacles may become necessary to relieve pain or open airways if the pain
becomes excruciating or lasts for more than three hours, or breathing becomes
difficult. Instances where the stings completely surround the trunk of a young
child are among those that have the potential to be fatal.