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Some friends and I spotted these strange creatures on the beach we were swimming at on New Year's Day, at Yamba on the northern NSW coast. There were a few of them that seemed to have come in alongside hundreds of bluebottles. The one that is pictured was about 1.5 inches in length and was probably the largest one. When we pushed down the sand underneath it and let some water fill in, it spread out all those weird 'fingers' and sort of lazily swam around but mostly just hovered just below the surface. We could also see it 'breathing', at least there was definitely movement around its throat area.

Personally I'm stumped. I was thinking it was a baby of something that would otherwise be quite recognisable. I'm wondering also what relationship it has to the bluebottles that they all seemed to come in together. Any solutions to this mystery?



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The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

I know I've read about those things before, but I can't remember for the life of me what they are called. I think they are some sort of mollusc, possibly a nudibranch.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Yeah, I just did some research... It's a nudibranch of the genus Glaucus.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I don't know much about sea creatures but that one is beautiful! If I was an artist & was told to make up a sci-fi creature, I would hope that I could make something that unique & beautiful!

I thought the pic was a joke at first. Thank you so much for showing us that that stunning creature does indeed exist!

Thankyou Natalie!

I found this article on the creature here. So there was a definite connection with the bluebottles. I'm glad we took the precaution of making sure we didn't touch it, as the article quotes:

"There are a number of reports in Australia of kids engaged in "Bluebottle" fights - where they throw stranded Physalia at each other - being badly stung by inadvertently playing with Glaucus and Glaucilla, both of which, by concentrating the most venomous of Physalia's nematocysts, are much more deadly."

Of course, living in Australia you kind of get to learn not to just go touching strange creatures willy-nilly.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

Recognised this beastie, though temporarily forgor the scientific name.

This is a nudibranch that feeds upon the Portuguese Man-O-War, though other colonial cnidarians also come in for the attention of this creature. The nudibranch is one of those highly interesting creatures whose digestion performs a 'smart' segregation of the consumed matter prior to actual digestion, and the cnidoblasts or stinging cells of the host cnidarian are passed still living through the gut into the cerata of the nudibranch, which then uses those stinging cells for its own defence against predators. As such, it is one of the most remarkable of the open ocean creatures: somehow it manages to dine upon the stinging cells of Physalia and other dangerous free-floating colonial cnidarians, yet never once succumbs itself to the stings, and sequesters the cnidarian's defences for its own use into the bargain.

Glaucus atlanticus is the usual species encountered by Man, though there are others.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I was so confused, I thought you meant bluebottles as in flies?

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Wow i have never seen one of these! that photo honestly looks fake its so bright!
but now that ive seen one here ill be definately looking out for them on the beach especially when the bluebottles are being washed ashore!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Awww! I want one

Inky

Wow i have never seen one of these! that photo honestly looks fake its so bright!

No, that IS for real. Glaucus atlanticus looks like that in life. Take a look here and see some more photos.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I though by bluebottles she meant dolphins... I'm so dumb. We have Portugese Man-of-War down here on the Texas Gulf Coast, sometimes in the thousands....does that mean we have those things too??? **NOTE TO SELF** be more careful at the beach.

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

CrazyRed, chances are if you find a Portuguese man-O-War beached, there could be a glaucus nudibranch stranded with it.

However, Glaucus can detach and float freely until the next cnidarian floats by.

Needless to say, because it sequesters the cnidarian's stinging cells for its own defence, you don't pick up a Glaucus if you see one - at least, not without thick gloves to protect you from the stings! Trouble being of course that keeping Glaucus in an aquarium requires that you supply it with a Portuguese Man-O-War to feed on. Which in itself is a major challenge to keep alive for any length of time in an aquarium.

Another creature that lives amid these cnidarians is Nomeus gronovii, the Portuguese Man-O-War Fish. Again, keeping this fish in an aquarium requires a very large setup to accommodate the cnidarian that it feeds upon - yes, it eats the stinging tentacles and gonads of Physalia as its principal diet, which means it's figured out some kind of defence against the stings ...

For more about Nomeus gronovii, a very odd fish indeed, go here.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002