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Blue Dragon

Mollusks

Blue dragon, Glaucus atlanticus, is a species of sea slug in the family Glaucidae, a pelagic nudibranch found floating upside down at the ocean surface across warm and temperate seas worldwide. Its striking blue-and-silver coloration is a form of countershading camouflage suited to life adrift on the open water, and it preys on far larger cnidarians such as the Portuguese man o' war, storing its victims' stinging cells intact within its own tissue for its own defense.

Facts
Classification
Diet
Carnivore 1
System (Realm)
Marine 2
Living or Extinct
Yes 3
Scientific Name
Glaucus atlanticus 5
Conservation Status
Not Evaluated 6
Comparison
CITES Appendix
Not Listed 4
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Gastropoda, Taxa
Source Wikidata: Blue Dragon

In Biome

Open Ocean, Biomes
Source SeaLifeBase: Glaucus atlanticus
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Global Biodiversity Information Facility: GBIF species distributions: Blue DragonDistributions
Quote, Distributions
"locality": "North America", "status": "PRESENT", "source": "Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)"
Sources
1. SeaLifeBase: Glaucus atlanticus
SeaLifeBaseBiology
Quote, Biology
Feeds on siphonophore, Physalia , Velella , and Porpita spp. (Ref. 844 ).
View the Source
2. GBIF Species API
GBIF Species APIView the Source
3. Wikidata (taxon extant/extinct status)
Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata contributorsQ131757, descriptionView the Source
4. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Gastropoda
UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 44
Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 44
"cites_listing":"I/II/NC","eu_listing":"A/B/D/NC","higher_taxa":{"kingdom":"Animalia","phylum":"Mollusca","class":"Gastropoda","order":null,"family":null},"synonyms":[],"common_names":[{"name":"Snails And Conches","language":"EN"},{"name":"Escargots Et Strombes","language":"FR"},{"name":"Caracoles Y Conchas","language":"ES"},{"name":"腹足纲","language":"ZH"}],"cites_listings":[]
View the Source
5. Wikidata: Blue Dragon
Child Taxon Of: Gastropoda, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chainView the Source
6. GBIF (IUCN Red List category): GBIF IUCN Red List category for Glaucus atlanticus
GBIF (IUCN Red List category)GBIF taxon key 5190072, category field
Quote, GBIF taxon key 5190072, category field
"category": "NOT_EVALUATED"
View the Source
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