These Stunning Sea Creatures Are Extremely Rare And Look Like Tiny ‘Blue Dragons’
They also have the ability to kill other sea creatures.
There are mythical dragons and heir imagined manifestations we’ve seen in movies. There’s also a version of these in real life. But they don’t breathe fire, so don’t be afraid. Some swimmers along an Australian coast saw these very brightly-colored sea creatures with dragon-like features with wings and a tail recently. Just look at this video below.
They look like miniature dragons and they’ve been named after their mythical cousins. The blue dragons are scientifically known as Glaucus atlanticus. They are extremely bright blue with color patterns and have the ability to inspire a thousand artists. According to The Dodo, they spend most of their lives floating upside down in warm ocean currents. Even though they grow to just about an inch long they have powerful venom that can kill other sea creatures if they get too close. Their venom is in their wing-like appendages.
Their sting may not kill humans, but it does leave quite a sting. So, just look at them instead of picking them up. Kylie Pitt, a marine invertebrates expert from Griffith University, Australia reports Gold Coast Bulletin said that “I have handled them before and wasn’t stung, but I would not recommend anyone pick them up because they can have a painful sting. They are really weird…they float upside down and move around using the water’s surface tension.” According to her, they shed its shell after the larval stage. They are originated from underwater animals as cuttlefishes, squids, and octopuses and also known as molluscs.
Mollusks usually wholly or partly enclosed in a calcium carbonate shell secreted by a soft mantle covering the body and are any soft-bodied invertebrate of the phylum Mollusca. People cannot see them very frequently as these creatures are actually very difficult to spot. But some people at the beach in the Queensland shore have found them and got a bit lucky. Oceana said that these sea creatures can be found in various oceans. “Also known as the blue dragon, sea swallow or blue angel, the blue glaucus is a species of brightly colored sea slug (nudibranch), and can be found throughout the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans in temperate and tropical waters. Like most nudibranchs, this species incorporates toxic chemicals or stinging cells from its prey into its own skin.”
The foundation also said that “This ability provides the blue glaucus with a defense mechanism against predation. Despite its impressive arsenal of defense tactics, the blue glaucus rarely reaches more than 3 centimeters long. And, unlike most benthic nudibranchs, this species lives throughout the entire water column. An air bubble stored in its stomach keeps the nudibranch afloat.”