Man-of-war fish

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iMan-of-war fish
Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Nomeidae
Genus: Nomeus
Cuvier, 1816
Species: N. gronovii
Binomial name
Nomeus gronovii
(Gmelin, 1789)

The man-of-war fish, Nomeus gronovii, is a driftfish found in all tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. Its length is up to 39 cm.

Notable for living within the deadly tentacles of the Portuguese man o' war, the man-of-war fish is generally found in open sea or close to the siphonophore Portuguese man o' war, after which it is named.

The fish is striped with blackish-blue blemishes covering its body, and the caudal fin is extremely forked.

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