This is the sea slug Glaucus atlanticus, called the Blue Dragon.
Isn’t it lovely? It gnaws on Portuguese Man O’ Wars (men o’ wars?), eating the nematocysts and concentrating the toxins in those many pointy dark blue frills. Look at them and admire their beauty, but do not touch.
Oooh. Sea slugs are astonishingly beautiful. They should have a better name.
Australia. It figures.
‘Persons of War’???
Wow. Regardless of the proper plural (or political) form, it’s pretty bad ass when you EAT Portuguese Man-o-Wars.
I was stung by a Man-o-War once when I was a kid, so as far as I’m concerned, we need more of these.
Gnu Atheist @ 4:
While I was gawking at all the gorgeous sea slugs (link in first post), I noticed quite a number of Glaucus atlanticus photos, many of them with the lovely little blue dragons on someone’s hand, and they are *tiny*. Makes them all the more bad ass.
No, actually, they are quite large. They are dragons, after all. What is happening here is, after touching / being bitten by one, yer hand swells up REAL BIG. So they look small…
That is some Alexander McQueen level of fashion. It is like art come to life
Cooler than sea monkeys!
Upside down slug FTW!
I thought they managed to actually recycle the untriggered nematocysts. This is a bit less awesome, if far more plausible.
Sea slugs seem to have a knack for this, some become the only solar-powered animals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysia_chlorotica
(Wikipedia informs me that this is called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptoplasty )
Sorry to distract you all from this beautiful creature, but I am in some trouble.
I am really coming up short on the costs of my move and bills, and if anyone can help out, please do.
http://gofundme.com/sd8a3sas
Also, it turns out the uhaul moving pod boxes I am going to have my stuff shipped in are frightfully insecure. The hasps are 1/8 inch aluminum, screwed into cheap plywood, and on one box, the screws are the wrong sort, so the locks my sister bought will not fit in the crappy aluminum hasps on the box. The screws which hold the hasps into the plywood are the wrong kind – instead of flat heads flush with hasp surface, they have big bumpy heads, and they prevent the other part of the hasp from clearing the hole the lock’s bar needs go through, so the bar won’t fit through the hole. This means I need an emergency donation to buy some screws and a screwdriver. This also means that no matter what I do, a drunk with a cheap claw hammer could rip the hasps off and get into the box, without any need to cut the bolt on the lock, or interfere with the lock in any way. Good thing everything that really matters to me will be on the plane, or, with luck, stored with a friend … actually I’m not 100% they’ll be back from their trip in time to take the stuff before my plane comes. *sigh*. The other box has a hasp with different screws, so that one closes ok. But it’s no good; on the other box, the holes are so stripped the screws will slide out if jimmied just a little – I can close the hasp, lock the lock onto it, and then wiggle the hasp until the screws come out, and open the door with the lock still closed. No jerking, no strength, and no tools needed. Just wiggling.
it’s very mandelbrotic.
This one has special meaning to me. I saw a photo of it four years ago and used it as a basis for a costume in my favorite MMO, City of Heroes (this was a villain character but that’s besides the point). The game was shut down three years ago but this was one of my favorite costumes and characters.