Talk:Portuguese Man o' War
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Is this spelled right or should it be "Portuguese man-of-war" or what? -phma
There's no consistency from various authorities doing a google check. But- A man o' war is a warship from the age of sail and the jellyfish was named after this so it definitely shouldn't be 'man of war'. I'm never very good with the capitalization business, I tend to do it unnecessarily and I think I've done that here too. So I'll move it.
- Actually, "Man Of War" is the standard name of the warship, coming into use in the late 15th century. By the 19th century (and yes, through all those centuries, of warre and warr and war, it seems to have always been 'of'), it was the most common word to call any naval vessel, at least among the English-speaking public. In terms of the critter, "Man Of War", "Man O' War", "Man-O-War" and all such variants are common. "Man Of War" seems to be prefered officially, while "Man O' War" seems to be preferred colloquially (when it comes to the hyphenation, however, it is completely up in the air...). Nitjanirasu
I thought the sea wasp was a box jelly? Or are both called sea wasps (in which case the sea wasp page needs an edit)? Edd 23:09, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)
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- My thought also: is not a sea wasp the highly poisonous Chironex fleckeri? Wetman 09:37, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
The Portuguese man o' war has tentacles which can be as long as 55 m (33 ft).
That can't be right??--Gazebo dude 04:46, Mar 10, 2005 (UTC)
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- Update: That edit was made by 169.151.1.213 on 12:31, Feb 11, 2005, additionally that address is a school district with an apparent history of vandalism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:169.151.1.213 . I'm new here; should this be reported and how?--Gazebo dude 04:58, Mar 10, 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Just curious
What makes the Portugese Man o' War Jellyfish Portuguese? Is it really common in Portugal or something? I keep looking and I can't find the answer. Most books say it lives in "tropical waters"--hence no answer.
- When I've been on Bermuda, I've been told that it was named so because its sail looked like the sails of Portugese war ships of the time. I don't have a source for this, however. -- Cchiappa 13:38, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Grrrr. It's NOT a jellyfish.
[edit] Filled with Argon?
1% of the athmosphere is Argon, but I find it difficult to believe that the creatures can seperate it from the atmosphere?
Any else know better than I do?
Jackliddle 20:33, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
This is incorrect, siphonophores (the group to which Physalia physalis belongs) secrete gas into their pneumatophore that is approximately the same in composition as the atmosphere. Physalia physalis may have elevated levels of carbon dioxide, up to 90%, but not argon. References for these facts are: 1) Brusca, Richard C. and Gary J. Brusca. 2003. Invertebrates, second edition.
Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA. pp. 936.
and 2) Barnes, Robert D. 1987. Invertebrate Zoology, fifth edition. Saunders College Publishing, Fort Worth, TX. pp. 893.
The "argon" myth is being propulgated on the web because of wiki-like projects where misinformation can spread rapidly and references are not taken seriously.
So, that might explain the "Portuguese" part, but why is it called a "Man o' War"? It isn't a man, it doesn't resemble a man in any way, and it doesn't seem to be waging war...
GBC 06:32, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
- I believe the "Man o' War" was a specific type of Portugese sailing ship -- Cchiappa 20:48, 29 September 2005 (UTC)
How can only one of the four kinds of polyps that make up its body be responsible for reproduction of the entire combination-organism? No matter how symbiotic they all are, they still have individual DNA and are basically just four really close friends, right?
Man O' War was a type of Galleon that the Portuguese sailed.
[edit] Medical advice section
Wikipedia does not give medical advice. 24ip | lolol 19:07, 6 September 2005 (UTC)
In terms of treatment the research from newcastle holds true in at least one case. My recent painful incounter with a blue bottle in sydney was relieved by applying hot water from the shower, my glands did start to hurt too. All the other myths about treatment should be dispelled in favor of hot water.
[edit] Prey
I removed "Prey: All types of fish" from the facts section because it is wrong. See for example [1]. 24ip | lolol 20:48, 6 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] length
The article previously gave the tentacle length as both "55 m" and "30 m". I've removed the latter figure, but I'm not entirely sure which is correct: Google turns up a variety of figures, but nothing I found seems authoritative. Can someone who knows a bit more about the subject check this? —Charles P. (Mirv) 05:50, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Incorrect treatment
Okay, this is embarrassing... when I read this article when discussing treatment, I kept thinking of the Friends episode, where Monica Geller gets stung by something at the beach. Joey or Chandler has to pee (a.k.a. urinate) on the sting. So, does this also fall under inappropriate treatment? Again, totally sorry but none-the-less it came to mind. Revmachine21 13:41, 25 January 2006 (UTC)poo
Actually, I think there is some component in urine that does actually help. I'm not sure how/why, and I'm only going from memory. If I figure it out, I'll let you know. It's certainly not a recommended first aid treatment.
I think it was the ammonia
- Well pee is pretty warm water. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.73.234.111 (talk) 06:59, 4 February 2007 (UTC).
[edit] reverted vandalism
Several sections in the article apparently vandalized from User:67.10.149.231. Sorry I didn't make that clear in the edit summary. Kineticman 09:30, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] More explanation needed
I read the page and was left feeling confused. It is a colony of 4 types of polyp ? What are those types, how do they fit together ? What's the development that leads to an adult colony ? How could such a "creature" have evolved ?
The article really just skims all that.
[edit] Treatment inconsistancy
The article claims that "they stun and kill small sea creatures using poison-filled nematocysts". "Box jellyfish use powerful venom contained in epidermic nematocysts to stun or kill its prey.. " (box jellyfish article).
I found this by clicking on the nematocysts link, read the nematocyst article which mentions box jellyfish, then clicked onto the box jellyfish article.
In this article (Man o' War) its stated that "The use of vinegar to treat stings is controversial. It appears that vinegar can make the sting more painful in some cases, while other victims report relief after applying vinegar. One should __never __apply vinegar while the tentacle is still attached to the body, as this will cause the stinging cells to inject more venom." (never emphasized).
Yet in the box jellyfish article article it states that "Following a sting, vinegar should be applied for a minimum of 30 seconds.[5] Acetic acid, found in vinegar, disables the box jellyfish's nematocysts that have not yet discharged into the bloodstream (though it will not alleviate the pain). Any adherent tentacles should then be removed. Removing the tentacles without first applying vinegar may increase discharge of nematocysts increasing envenoming, however, if no vinegar is available, careful removal of the tentacles by hand is recommended.".
It seems to me that there is a bit of an inconsistancy here-- yes the Man o'war article says that the poison isn't the same as that of the box Jellyfish, however the nematocyst article implies that they [nematocyst's] operate as a delivery device, which seems to presume that vinegar should work?
-- Different organism, different poision, different triggers for the release of that poison. Not all nematocysts are created equal. Chrisbrl88 18:11, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Who did this study?
I notice that the article reads "According to a study done by your mom,and your dad..." I do not recall either of my parents conducting studies of this nature. Does anyone have a source? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.195.193.191 (talk) 06:05, 24 January 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Where is it?
I came to this article trying to find out what regions of the world the Man o' War lives in, but apparently this is not a part of the article. Would anyone like to expand on this? Chrisbrl88 18:07, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
It's right behind you, look out! --71.112.4.245 02:17, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
