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Googling produces: “ Bluebottles are similar to the Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis) in appearance and behavior, but are smaller and less venomous. An
by richardw 2y ago
Googling produces:
“ Bluebottles are similar to the Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis) in appearance and behavior, but are smaller and less venomous. And unlike the Portuguese Man o’ War, bluebottle stings have yet to cause any human fatalities.”
https://oceana.org/marine-life/bluebottle/#:~:text=Bluebottles%20are%20similar%20to%20the,to%20cause%20any%20human%20fatalities https://oceana.org/marine-life/bluebottle/#:~:text=Bluebottl....
But the bluebottle seems to be called the “pacific man-o ‘war”, thus some potential for mixing them up, or adding another subspecies, etc. Not an expert.
- teruakohatu 2y agoIts now widely accepted there is only one species: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42421559 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42421559 I grew up in New Zealand thinking blue bottles and man-o-war's were different.
- richardw 2y agoAh, missed that. New info, thank you!
- pvaldes 2y agoMy guess is that they are confusing blue bottles with blue bottons (Porpita porpita). The floating ones comprise Physalia, Velella and Porpita. Is an oceanic trilogy.
- pedalpete 2y agoNo, definitely not blue bottons, bluebottles have the distinctive "sail" that sits above the water.