An Orange Beach visitor yesterday snapped a photo of a rare Gulf Coast sighting, a Portuguese man o’ war.

“Stranded but still stunning — a Portuguese Man-o-War spotted on the shore,” wrote City of Orange Beach Coastal Resources in a post to Facebook.

“Nature’s beauty comes with a sting!”

While it is often mistaken as a type of jellyfish, the man-o-war is actually a species of siphonophore, a group of animals that are closely related to jellyfish, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A siphonophore is comprised of a colony of specialized, genetically identical individuals called zooids — clones — with various forms and functions, all working together as one, making it a very unique group, NOAA says.

“Resembling an 18th-century Portuguese warship under full sail, the man o’ war is recognized by its balloon-like float, which may be blue, violet, or pink and rises up to six inches above the waterline,” reads the NOAA site.

“Lurking below the float are long strands of tentacles and polyps that grow to an average of 10 meters (about 30 feet) and may extend by as much as 30 meters (about 100 feet).”

“The tentacles contain stinging nematocysts, microscopic capsules loaded with coiled, barbed tubes that deliver venom capable of paralyzing and killing small fish and crustaceans,” it continues.

The site adds that while the man o’ war’s sting is rarely deadly to people, “it packs a painful punch and causes welts on exposed skin.”