Porpita porpita: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the porpita porpita lives – recorded in 16 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Porpita porpita
Group	Jellyfish, corals & anemones
Found in	16 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
Class	Cnidarian
Order	Anthoathecata
Family	Porpitidae

Where does the porpita porpita live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the porpita porpita in 16 countries and territories across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the porpita porpita?

The porpita porpita (Porpita porpita) is a cnidarian in the order Anthoathecata and the family Porpitidae, genus Porpita. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the porpita porpita

Porpita porpita, or the blue button, is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids

found in the warmer, tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific,

Atlantic, and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Arabian Sea.

It was first identified by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, under the basionym Medusa porpita.

In addition, it is one of the two genera under the suborder Chondrophora, which is a group of cnidarians that also includes Velella.

The chondrophores are similar to the better-known siphonophores, which includes the Portuguese man o' war, or Physalia physalis. Although it is superficially similar to a jellyfish, each apparent individual is actually a colony of hydrozoan polyps. The taxonomic class, Hydrozoa, falls under the phylum Cnidaria, which includes anemones, corals, and jellyfish, which explains their similar appearances.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Porpita porpita (revision 1350488830), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q2535508 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).