Siphonophore facts for kids
The Siphonophores are an order of cnidarian invertebrates in the class Hydrozoa. The Portuguese man o' war is an example.
A siphonophore is not a single animal. It is a colony of four kinds of zooids. Zooids are very small, highly modified individuals. All the zooids in a colony are genetically identical. These zooids are specialized polyps and medusoids.
Though structurally similar to other cnidarians, the zooids do not live by themselves: they are attached to each other. Each type of zooid is not self-sufficient. It depends for survival on the others doing what it cannot do by itself.
So close do the zooids fit together that the colony looks like a single individual. It was a triumph of 19th century biology to discover the real nature of the siphonophores.
Images for kids
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Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis)
See also
In Spanish: Siphonophora para niños