Posts tagged mollusk

Glaucus atlanticus: The Blue Sea Slug, Blue Ocean Slug, or the Sea Swallow This awesome mollusc is a drifter, one of the few species that floats the open ocean in both temperate and tropical waters, across most of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Though it’s never close to the beaches (aside from periods of intense wind), the tidal currents pull the Blue Sea Slug along the shorelines, a few miles out to sea. They subsist on a diet of Portuguese Man-o’-wars, other extremely dangerous hydrozoans, and sometimes each other - they’re beautiful, but deadly if eaten. The nematocysts that are consumed by these guys are stored in their cerata (outgrowths). Though the nematocysts don’t fire from inside the cerata, the venom that they’d normally inject while being part of the Man-o’-War is still present, and active as a compound. Toxic though they are, they still face seabird strikes while floating out at sea, and as such, half of them is a dull grey color, and the other half is bright shining blue. Fun fact! Gastrodon from Pokemon is supposedly based off of the Sea Swallow, and just like this mollusc, it has different coloration based upon the sea that it’s caught in. Det Kongelige Danske videnskabernes selskabs skrifter, Vol. 7: Anatomiske Bidrag til Kundskab om Aeolidierne. Rudolph Bergh, 1864-1868.

Glaucus atlanticus: The Blue Sea Slug, Blue Ocean Slug, or the Sea Swallow

This awesome mollusc is a drifter, one of the few species that floats the open ocean in both temperate and tropical waters, across most of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Though it’s never close to the beaches (aside from periods of intense wind), the tidal currents pull the Blue Sea Slug along the shorelines, a few miles out to sea.

They subsist on a diet of Portuguese Man-o’-wars, other extremely dangerous hydrozoans, and sometimes each other - they’re beautiful, but deadly if eaten. The nematocysts that are consumed by these guys are stored in their cerata (outgrowths). Though the nematocysts don’t fire from inside the cerata, the venom that they’d normally inject while being part of the Man-o’-War is still present, and active as a compound.

Toxic though they are, they still face seabird strikes while floating out at sea, and as such, half of them is a dull grey color, and the other half is bright shining blue.

Fun fact! Gastrodon from Pokemon is supposedly based off of the Sea Swallow, and just like this mollusc, it has different coloration based upon the sea that it’s caught in.

Det Kongelige Danske videnskabernes selskabs skrifter, Vol. 7: Anatomiske Bidrag til Kundskab om Aeolidierne. Rudolph Bergh, 1864-1868.

Ommastrephae spp. - The Neon Flying Squid The flying squids can leap out of the water and “fly”, much like flying fish do. This sometimes leads to them landing on ship decks, especially in rough waters, and when predators are around. Mollusques Vivant et Fossiles. 1845.

Ommastrephae spp. - The Neon Flying Squid

The flying squids can leap out of the water and “fly”, much like flying fish do. This sometimes leads to them landing on ship decks, especially in rough waters, and when predators are around.

Mollusques Vivant et Fossiles. 1845.

Nudibranch nudibranch nudibranch nudibranch!

Nudibranchs are all carnivores. Most of them (all of them, if in too dense an area) are cannibalistic. Some of these very cool/scary invertebrates even actively hunt down Portuguese Man o’ Wars for food…you know, the ones that have the second most painful sting of any sea creatures? Yeah, they eat those, and take the nematocysts that make up the tentacles for their own protection.

Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London. 1906.