siphonophore

English

A Portuguese man-of-war, by far the most well-known siphonophore (sense 1), infamous for the potency of its venom.

Etymology

From siphono- +‎ -phore, likely from translingual Siphonophorae.

Pronunciation

• (Southern US) IPA^(key): /saɪˈfɑ.nəˌfo˞/

Noun

siphonophore (plural siphonophores)

1. Any of various transparent marine hydrozoans, of the order Siphonophorae, that float or swim as colonies of polyps.
   • 2017 October 24, Derek J Skillings, “Life is not easily bounded”, in Aeon‎^[1]:

     Is an individual hydra polyp analogous to an entire siphonophore colony – or is it more like a member of that colony?

   • 2024 August 24, Stephen Burgen, “Resorts on Spain’s Costa Brava struggle with invasion of jellyfish as seas warm”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     However, two beaches in Tarragona in southern Catalonia were closed in July after Portuguese man o’war (Physalia physalis) were spotted in the water. The sting of this siphonophore (it is not technically a jellyfish, but they are closely related) is especially painful.

Translations

hydrozoan of the order Siphonophorae

• Finnish: uimapolyyppi (fi)
• French: siphonophore (fr) m
• Japanese: 管クラゲ (kudakurage)
• Russian: сифонофо́ра (ru) f (sifonofóra)
• Spanish: sifonóforo m

Further reading

• Siphonophorae on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Siphonophorae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Siphonophorae on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons