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
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Scientific Name Conservation Status Comparison
CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Blue Dragon
In Biome
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 DragonDistributionsQuote, Distributions
"locality": "North America", "status": "PRESENT", "source": "Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)"
Sources
1. SeaLifeBase: Glaucus atlanticus
SeaLifeBaseBiologyQuote, Biology
Feeds on siphonophore, Physalia , Velella , and Porpita spp. (Ref. 844 ).
2. GBIF Species API
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 44Quote, 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":[]
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 fieldQuote, GBIF taxon key 5190072, category field
"category": "NOT_EVALUATED"
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