Their top side is lighter than their foot, which is blue. This is a form of camouflage, in that when you’re looking up at one of these animals, you see a colour similar to that of the sky above, and if you’re looking down, it’s less contrasted against the deep blue sea.īlue sea dragons, on the other hand, have it all backwards. This is where their top side is dark and their bottom side is light. Most ocean animals are like this, too, and as such, many make use of a cool adaptation called countershading. The point is, up is up, down is down, and that’s the way we like it. Of course, there are valid reasons to adjust this setup temporarily, and we don’t need to go into those here. They are one of the few carnivorous slugs, and their weirdness doesn’t stop there they can also give a nasty sting if handled or stepped on.
They grow up to around 3cm (1.2 inches) in length, although some larger specimens have been discovered and can be found in groups. They also sport six feathered appendages from their body, and hunt down some of the more venomous animals in the ocean for lunch. They’re vivid blue, which may help protect these water surface-dwellers from UV light and provide important camouflage. Blue dragons are also known as the blue sea slug, blue angel, dragon slug, and even sea swallow. They spend their life floating around, partially kept afloat by a gas filled sac in their stomach to aid buoyancy. These are shell-less gastropods, like your common garden slug, but with a lot more going on. Apparently, Glaucus atlanticus, more commonly known as the blue sea dragon didn’t get this message.īlue sea dragons are stunning little molluscs that hang out upside-down in many of the world’s open oceans.
They can’t move fast, eat your vegetables and certainly don’t sting. They’re not exactly what you’d call exotic, and they don’t usually look very interesting. Slugs are typically slow-moving, terrestrial, and slimy.
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