Editing Portuguese man o' war (section)

==Life cycle==
[[File:Lifecycle of the Portuguese man of war.png|thumb|Lifecycle of the Portuguese man o' war.<ref name=Munro2019/> The mature animal is pictured floating on the ocean surface, while early development is thought to occur at an unknown depth below the surface of the ocean. The gonodendra are thought to be released from the colony when mature. The egg and [[planula]] larva stage have not yet been observed.]]

Man o' war individuals are [[Dioecy|dioecious]], meaning each colony is either male or female.<ref name=ADW/><ref name=Munro2019/> Gonophores producing either sperm or eggs (depending on the sex of the colony) sit on a tree-like structure called a gonodendron, which is believed to drop off from the colony during reproduction.<ref name=Munro2019/> Mating takes place primarily in the autumn, when eggs and sperm are shed from gonophores into the water.<ref name=ADW/> As neither fertilization nor early development has been directly observed in the wild, it is not yet known at what depth these occur.<ref name=Munro2019/>

A fertilized man o' war egg develops into a [[planula]] that buds off new zooids as it grows, gradually forming a new colony. This development initially occurs under the water, and has been reconstructed by comparing different stages of planulae collected at sea.<ref name=Munro2019/> The first two structures to emerge are the pneumatophore (sail) and a single, early feeding zooid called a protozooid. Later, gastrozooids and tentacle-bearing zooids are added. Eventually, the growing pneumatophore becomes buoyant enough to carry the immature colony on the surface of the water.<ref name=Munro2019/>