Australian Marine Life: lovely to look at but do not touch

ABC News. 10 February 2019:

A striking blue dragon sea slug, that eats bluebottles and can give a powerful sting, has been washing ashore and capturing the imagination of residents on the north coast of New South Wales.

The unusual, soft-bodied nudibranch is sometimes described as resembling a dragon in flight, a Pokemon or a blue lizard, and goes by the official name of glaucus atlanticus.

Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Service director, Dr Lisa Gershwin, said it was a fascinating little creature…..

PHOTO: The 'blue dragon' nudibranchs float on the surface and have been spotted on beaches and in rockpools in Port Macquarie recently. (Supplied: Michael Spooner)

Similar to bluebottles, the blue dragon nudibranchs float on the surface of the water and normally spend most of their time in the open ocean.

Dr Gershwin said regular onshore winds along the northern NSW and Queensland coastline this summer had been washing them onto beaches.

"Like bluebottles, they hang out right at the air/water interface, and are all floating, living as a community together, so when the wind blows it moves all of them," she said……

"They are able to store the stinging cells from their prey, that is, bluebottles, in their little … fingers and toes and then use them for their own defence. I've been nailed by them, they hurt."