Logo Sertox

Portal latinoamericano de toxicología

From Australia: the strange sea creature called Blue Dragon (Glaucus atlanticus)

16 November, 2015
Neon Blue Creature spotted on Australian Beach. By Diana Bretting. perfscience.com. November 16, 2015. A neon blue creature that seems like a tie-dyed can be seen not only in a science fiction movie, as it was washed up on an Australian beach recently. The blobby creature was seen by a local on the foreshore at Broadbent beach. He captured a video of it wriggling in the sand. The strange sea creature is commonly and suitably called a Blue Dragon. It eats blue bottle jellyfish, and with a striking, alien outlook, packs a sting of its own. The Gold Coast Bulletin reported that Lucinda Fry captured this Blue Dragon writhing on the sand and moving what seemed to be its head at Broadbeach, Queensland.
From Australia: the strange sea creature called Blue Dragon (Glaucus atlanticus)
Dragones
(SerTox)
Neon Blue Creature spotted on Australian BeachMarine invertebrates expert of Griffith University, Kylie Pitt, said that the creature was in fact a sea slug, known as Glaucus atlanticus. While speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin, she said that she wouldn’t recommend anybody to pick them up as they can have a painful sting.

The ‘weird’ sea slugs swam upside down while feeding on blue bottles blown onto Gold Coast beaches by easterly winds. They moved with the help of the surface tension of the water. She said that consumption of the stinging jellyfish did not trouble them.

The blue dragon is also a nudibranch, and is reportedly found along the east coast of Australia, and across the world in moderate and tropical waters. The size of the blue dragon can’t be estimated on the basis of the video but creatures generally grow to nearly 3-4cm in length.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Read related: Weird sea creature glows electric blue as it writhes on the sand after washing up on Australian beach… but WHAT is it? By Leith Huffadine. dailymail.co.uk.  November 15,  2015. 
  • Amazing rare sea creature washes up on Gold Coast beach 
  • Befitting its bizarre appearance, it is commonly known as a blue dragon
  • The marine creature feeds on dangerous blue bottle jellyfish
  • Despite its name, the blue dragon is actually a type of sea slug 

Add more content here...