Talk:Glaucus atlanticus

Shriveling

"4cm long when alive" -- Why make the distinction? Do they get longer when they die? I'm removing the qualifier.

maybe they shrivel? I don't know. Orcahuman (talk) 18:35, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

They live in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean. They are pelagic. Most users will encounter them washed up on the shoreline, not in a pristine state. Qualification was probably useful. Shoka, not logged in.

Also, a lot of slugs do shrink when they are preserved, if a relaxing agent was not used before preservation. Invertzoo (talk) 01:17, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Glaucilla confusion

I just rewrote the intro to clear up confusion regarding Glaucilla marginata. Let me know if I've gotten anything wrong. AstarothCY (talk) 13:26, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Importance

I changed the importance to high, because this article is surprisingly often consulted. Invertzoo (talk) 13:20, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Foot?

"It has dark blue stripes along the edge of its foot." Does whatever it has qualify as a foot? - Anton Nordenfur (talk) 00:04, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

Apparantly the dorsal side is classified as its foot. I have to read up on slugs. - Anton Nordenfur (talk) 00:24, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, all gastropods have a foot. Invertzoo (talk) 01:18, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

"True Story?"

Every photo of this on the internet looks horribly fake. Are these real, and if so, can we get something less photoshopped looking? 65.27.134.29 (talk) 01:57, 4 March 2012 (UTC)Ubiquitousnewt

Yes, they are real. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos to give, but I can tell you they're real because I've seen them with my own eyes. :] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.185.161.28 (talk) 12:27, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

They are indeed real, and yes they do look quite extraordinary, both when they are floating on the water surface and also when they are collapsed on the beach after they are accidentally washed up. Invertzoo (talk) 18:11, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

toxic/poisonous

Some clearer information re their danger to humans if any would be good --— ⦿⨦⨀Tumadoireacht ^Talk/_Stalk 00:26, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Or, if they bite or not... MeeLee ^Talk/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.166.176.82 (talk) 03:12, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

They definitely do not bite; the mouth and radula are both far too small to make a dent on human skin. However, these sea slugs can deliver a very painful sting. I just now tried to add a couple of sentences to the intro explaining a little bit more, and linking to the appropriate section of the Portuguese man o' war article which really does talk about the venom. Invertzoo (talk) 01:41, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Student edits

It appears to be the case that over the years, students fairly frequently add edits to this article. Although Wikipedia is indeed the encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and we do welcome new editors and are grateful for any constructive work, nonetheless I would ask new editors to be very careful and to read the whole article through carefully before they drop in any information.

Try to make sure that you are not duplicating information that already exists in another section of the article, and try to make sure that you are putting information into the correct section. Info needs to be accompanied by a reference. If you need some help, please just ask at the Gastropod Project Talk page or on my own talk page. Thanks everyone, Invertzoo (talk) 17:51, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

File:Glaucus atlanticus 1 cropped.jpg to appear as POTD soon

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Glaucus atlanticus 1 cropped.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on February 5, 2016. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2016-02-05. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 01:37, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Picture of the day

Glaucus atlanticus is a species of small, blue sea slug. This pelagic aeolid nudibranch floats upside down, using the surface tension of the water to stay up, and is carried along by the winds and ocean currents. The blue side of their body faces upwards, blending in with the blue of the water, while the grey side faces downwards, blending in with the silvery surface of the sea. G. atlanticus feeds on other pelagic creatures, including the Portuguese man o' war.Photograph: Taro Taylor; edit: Dapete

Camouflage?

Beautiful photograph. But is this animal really camouflaged? I had understood that its coloration emphasized its shape; as it is also strongly defended with toxins, it may well be aposematic, the opposite of camouflage. The ref (from weebly) is not adequate to decide the matter. Chiswick Chap (talk) 16:44, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

where does it live, how does it attack man o' war?

I came on this page to learn about the creature. It raises more questions than it solves. Where does this thing live in the world? How on earth does it attack and kill (if that's what the article means by 'prey') the massive man o' war?

Someone with knowledge please answer these questions! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.127.25.44 (talk) 12:20, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

Update references on nematocysts and venom usage

Hey :) and sorry for not having fully grasped all Wikipedia's edit&talk logic yet XD

I came across a broken reference here today, with this 404 link (citation [13]):

   http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=glauatla

about venom usage and concentration, which would be quite an impressive fact.. if it could be sourced :P

Do we have any update on this mysterious Rudman, W. B. (6 November 1998)?

This is it. Thank you for this article anyway. G. atlanticus is wonderful :)

Iago-lito (talk) 19:48, 15 January 2018 (UTC)

The other instance of the reference had a working URL (here), so I consolidated them into one. Went through and fixed other broken links. One seems it might be irretrievable but it's been tagged with {{dead url}} and the {{citations broken}} template isn't necessary for just one!

This website seems OK. The claim "by concentrating the most venomous of Physalia's nematocysts, are much more deadly" may be the only one I think is questionable. Rhinopias (talk) 03:03, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

"In fiction"

OK, this is very much POV, but these are the critters that came to mind when reading about the critters that lived in Arthur Clarke's Europa in the book "2010" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8003:E422:3C01:8CFC:989E:E789:4929 (talk) 07:34, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

• Not POV but OR, but yes. The only (very remote) possibility would be if a critic/book reviewer thought the same and said so. I think that's all we could cite. Invasive Spices (talk) 9 December 2021 (UTC)

B

Glaucus atlanticus 203.190.202.112 (talk) 02:41, 8 January 2022 (UTC)

Measurements: how can it be 3cm and have papillae up to 84”??

How can it be 3cm with papillae up to 84”? This seems like an error? In description. 2601:447:C281:C620:19B3:9B16:573E:E01 (talk) 16:26, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Possible for non-poisonous blue sea slug

I've been wondering is it possible to feed them something else, Something that doesn't have poison in it? Poison dart frogs are only poisonous due to diet, could the blue sea slug be or do the same thing? Ghostsayboo (talk) 18:00, 30 March 2023 (UTC)

What is the life cycle? 2603:8081:500:2C9:B16C:107C:A978:C80C (talk) 21:54, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Claim with no evidence

Link 23 under Life History and behavior does not provide any mention or evidence to support claim that this species selects the most venomous stinging cells from its prey. Spellingmistakes (talk) 18:30, 1 June 2023 (UTC)