Portuguese man-of-war

Glycophorin A appears to serve a variety of functions on the red-cell membrane, and has been implicated in several red-cell disorders. Because it extends from the external environment of the cell into the cell cytoplasm, it is considered to constitute a receptor for malarial parasites,"" influenza viruses, lectins, and Portuguese man-of-war toxin. Many of these receptor functions are attributable to the carbohydrate composition of these... 

Those of us who have been stung by a jellyfish know the pain this can cause. In the case of the Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish, the pain is intense and is accompanied by many other symptoms, including pain in the muscles in the injured hmb or even the whole body, pain when breathing, and even breakdown of red blood cells and kidney failure. The toxin, physalitoxin, is a large protein which is lethal to mice at a dose of 0.2 mg per kg body weight, that is a lethal dose in humans would be about 12 mg. 

Many very toxic nematocyst toxins in this group of marine invertebrates, which include the Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia). Intense pain, shock, paralysis, nausea and vomiting, delirium, often fatal. 

Cnidarians are a group of marine animals with stinging structures called nematocysts. Examples include jellyfish, anemones, hydroids, Portuguese man-of-war, and corals (Soppe 1989). They contribute to the myriad of aquatic dermatoses affecting athletes and recreational participants. 

Tamkun, M.M., and D.A. Hessinger Isolation and Partial Characterization of a Hemolytic and Toxic Protein from the Nematocyst Venom of the Portuguese Man-of-War, Physalia physalis. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 667, 87 (1981). 

Sea Nettle (Chrysaora quinquecirrha) and Portuguese Man-of-War (Physaliaphysalis) on Cultured Chinese Hamster Ovary K-1 Cells. Toxicon 18, 495 (1980). 

Tentacles of the Portuguese man-of-war reaching 13 m in length have been reported in Australia (Burnett et al., 1987). 

Edwards, L. and Hessinger, D.A. (2000) Portuguese Man-of-war (Physalia physalis) venom induces calcium influx into cells by permeabilizing plasma membranes. Toxicon, 38, 1015-1028. 

Stillway, L. (1976) Fatty acids of the Portuguese Man-of-War Physalia physalis. Comp. Biochem. Physiol, 53B, 535-537. 

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