New Delhi: Over 150 people visiting Mumbai beaches were injured after scores of blue bottle jellyfish, also known as Portuguese man-of-war, attacked them, causing panic and fear among the people.
The Portuguese man-of-war has long tentacles, which enter the body and deliver an excruciatingly painful sting. The venomous sting can kill fish, but not humans.
According to an ANI report, many people have been injured in the past two days, causing itching sensation and pain for hours.
Locals said that the blue bottle jellyfish are generally seen in Mumbai, during the mid-monsoon season every year, but this time they were spotted in unusually large numbers.
The Portuguese Man-of-War belongs to the Physaliidae family and is commonly found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The blue bottle jellyfish is not a single animal, but a colony of four kinds of highly modified zooids that are dependent on one another for survival.
The name “man-of-war” originated from an 18th-century armed sailing ship. They live at the surface of the ocean, therefore, during strong winds, they are driven onto beaches.
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