In south Florida at this time of year we see lots of beached Portuguese man-o-wars. They can sting like a jellyfish, but are actually a “colony” of 4 separate polyps that all live together. Often just the bladder remains, but sometimes they’ll still have their full array of tentacles, which can reach 10 feet (and will most definitely still sting you if you touch them)
Sounds like the time I accidentally kicked a sea urchin under the water. The needles got under my toe nails. I wanted to be put in a coma to not deal with that, lol.