Siphonophorae or Siphonophora, the siphonophores, are an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine invertebrates belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. Although a siphonophore appears to be a single organism, each specimen is actually a colony composed of many individual animals. Most colonies are long, thin, transparent pelagic floaters. Some siphonophores superficially resemble jellyfish. The best known species is the dangerous Portuguese Man o' War (Physalia physalis). With a body length of 40–50 m, another species of siphonophore, Praya dubia, is one of the longest animals in the world (Dunn 2005).
This site is written and maintained by Casey Dunn. It provides an introduction to the biology of siphonophores, and is intended for both a scientific and general audience. Dr. Philip R. Pugh of the National Oceanographic Centre in the United Kingdom has provided valuable feedback and suggestions.
Siphonophores.org has been featured in the general press, as well is in the August 12, 2005 Netwatch section of Science.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
