Known as the "source of life", the ocean is inhabited by many beautiful animals, such as flower jellyfish, bulb sea squirts, sea hares and so on. For those things that are beautiful in appearance, it is inevitable that they will attract people's attention.
Some time ago, there were reports that a very beautiful looking creature appeared on a beach in Texas, USA, which is very rare and attracts many people to watch. However, zoologists say it is unusual to appear on the beach, saying that it is not a good thing, and warn people to stay away from the creature once they encounter it, and do not touch it if they do not come close. What's going on here?
Atlantic poseidon sea slugs
This creature found on the beach in the United States has a very special name, called "Atlantic Poseidon Sea Slugs", scientific name "Glaucus Atlanticus", is a marine mollusk of the genus Neptune and the genus of Sea God gills.
The Atlantic sea god sea slug is highly recognizable, with tentacles around its mouth, a pair of very small olfactory angles on the side of the body, and its gastropods are born from the body side of 3-6 appendages, and the appendages are bifurcated at the ends, arranged in a radial manner, up to 84. Overall, it looks like a dragon, blue throughout, and has a high appearance, so it has an alias called "Blue Dragon".
It is also strange to say that the "blue dragon" that looks like a dragon does not have the huge body of a dragon. On the contrary, the Atlantic sea god sea slug is very small, weighing between 3 and 100 grams, the body length is between 3 and 8 centimeters, and the adult "blue dragon" that can reach 8 centimeters is not as big as a human slap. Small but not small, it is a voracious predator in the ocean, often preying on various jellyfish, purple snails and some hydra, and even cannibalizing in the absence of food.
Little is known about the Atlantic sea god sea slugs, and there is little information about the population and status of this species. Therefore, this creature is difficult to see in daily life. Moreover, its lifestyle is more special, often floating in the open ocean, such as the Caribbean Sea, the North Pacific, the North Atlantic and other seas are within its range of activities.
That's why zoologists believe it shouldn't be on the beach, because floating on the surface of the sea is its inherent way of inhabiting. But sometimes, the Atlantic Poseidon Sea Slugs are washed ashore by huge waves, so it's normal to find it on the beach.
What's so special about blue dragon?
Compared to many other marine life, the Blue Dragon has two special features. One is the special breeding method, most other animals are hermaphrodite, only females can lay eggs; and "blue dragons" are hermaphrodites, and two "blue dragons" can lay eggs after mating. In this way, even if the "Blue Dragon" is rare, it is not easy to become extinct, after all, anyone can be born.
Another thing worth mentioning is the specialness of the living posture. Other marine organisms in the water are belly-facing downwards, back up, which is also our usual cognition. However, when the "Blue Dragon" floats on the water, it is back-facing and belly-facing, that is, it has always lived in a supine posture.
As for whether this posture is comfortable or uncomfortable, only it knows, but this posture is definitely beneficial to it, which is actually its unique way of survival, which is a kind of self-protection using anti-shade protective colors, which is very wise.
Although the "Blue Dragon" looks blue as a whole, there are still some differences in the color of some parts. Its ventral surface is blue, the back is silvery-white, when it floats on its back on the sea, looking up from underwater, the silvery-white back merges with the silvery sea surface, and the underwater predatory fish cannot find them; from the air, the blue ventral surface matches the overall blue color of the ocean, and it is difficult for birds above the sea to find them.
Under the packaging of the beautiful appearance is highly toxic
People will have a good feeling for beautiful animals, can't help but want to touch it, but beautiful animals do not mean that people and animals are harmless, people often say "the more beautiful animals, the more careful you should be", in fact, there is a certain truth.
Like the "blue dragon" that appeared on the beach in the United States this time, zoologists warned people not to touch it, but to stay away from it, not only can not touch it, but also need to quickly move away. In fact, this is inseparable from the toxicity of the "Blue Dragon", the small and beautiful "Blue Dragon" is a very dangerous animal, with a highly poisonous body, it can bring more deadly stings than the monk's hat jellyfish, and being stung by it will cause a pain similar to the hot blade cutting through the skin.
In Australia, there are often people who are poisoned by the "blue dragon". For example, a 25-year-old Australian woman was stung by a "blue dragon" while walking barefoot on the beach, and it took a long time to save her life.
For example, in 2017, when an Australian mother was playing with her one-and-a-half-year-old baby at the beach, the baby's left foot was stung by the "blue dragon", and soon after returning home, he began to cry non-stop, and at the same time launched a high fever, and then the mother saw that the baby's left foot was red and swollen before being sent to the hospital for examination, but she heard the doctor say that she needed to amputate herself to save her life. It can be seen how severe the toxicity of the "Blue Dragon" is, and you must be careful when playing on the beach.
Why is the Blue Dragon so poisonous? Maybe it has something to do with its eating habits. The hydra it eats are some of the things that are highly dangerous to humans, and its food contains toxicity, while the "Blue Dragon" itself can not only resist the toxins of its prey with its unique physiological structure, but also store these toxins in its own body and make itself more poisonous.
Because the "Blue Dragon" is small and exquisite, and its appearance is beautiful and moving, many enthusiasts want to raise them as pets, but now it seems that it is not feasible, one is because of their special diet, it is difficult to survive by artificial captivity; the other is because of their high toxicity, people can not get close. The Atlantic sea god sea slug is really a creature that people love and hate.