Physalia spp. records along the Brazilian coast extracted from Instagram and online news.

The pleustonic siphonophore Physalia spp. is known to cause some of the most frequent and severe stings worldwide. Their potentially dangerous nature, combined with their striking beauty and unique morphology, often leads to spontaneous posts on popular social media platforms. This study analyzed over 1,000 reports of Physalia spp. along the Brazilian coast, collected from social media and online news articles between 2020 and 2024.