Immune To The Man Of War's Toxin example essay topic

Man-of-War The Portuguese man-of-war if a member of the Kingdom Animalia, phylumCnidaria (1), class Hydrozoan, order Siphonophra, the genus Physalia, and the species Physalia (2). The man-of-war is not an actual jellyfish, but a Siphonophore. Also the man-of-war is not a single organism. It is made up of many different organisms that work together. These organisms are called polyps. The Portuguese man-of-war is usually found in the Northern Atlantic gulf stream.

It can also be found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The man-of-war will usually travel in groups, that may contain up to one thousand members. The main portion of the man-of-war's body is an oblong gas-filled bladder. The bladder is usually nine to thirty centimeters long, and is a translucent pink, blue, or purple.

On top of the bladder is a crest. This is to catch the wind, and move the man-of-war along. Below the bladder, hang long stringy tentacles, that can reach a length of up to fifty meters. The tentacles are made-up of three different types of polyps. The names of these three polyps are: , , and gastro zooid. The polyps are the parts that: capture prey, digest prey, and reproduce.

The have cells (3). The release a toxin (4) into anything that they come into contact with. The gastro zooids then attach to the dead / stunned victim, and spread over it. They digest it, and transfer food to the rest of the man-of-war. Last, the create other polyps. The means by which the man-of-war reproduces, however, is not yet understood.

The fish Nomeus lives among the tentacles of the man-of-war. This fish, which is eight centimeters long, is mostly immune to the man-of-war's toxin. It will eat the tentacles, which will grow back, as its main source of food. Although it is mostly immune to the man-of-war's toxin, the man-of-war will sometimes end up eating it. The enemies of the man-of-war are the Nomeus, and the loggerhead turtle. If you were to get stung by a man-of-war, you would experience a very painful sensation where you got stung.

The toxin that the man-of-war uses blocks nerve conduction. This causes a severe systematic syndrome. This is accompanied by a fever, possibly shock, and interference with heart and lung functions.

Bibliography

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17-18 hillside... k 12. mn. us, web United States of America: hillside... k 12. mn. us, 1997 Microsoft Encarta 1996.
Silicon Valley Ca., Microsoft Corporation, 19971 Cnidarian and Celenorates are two interchangeable names for this Phylum.