Glaucus atlanticus   Forster, 1777

Blue glaucus
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Gastropoda | Nudibranchia | Glaucidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Pelagic; depth range 0 - 37 m (Ref. 75700).  Tropical

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Circumtropical.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm Max length : 4.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 822)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

This nudibranch can cause severe indirect envenomation to humans when it comes in contact with skin. This is due to the venomous nematocysts that were ingested by the nudibranch as they prey on Physalia species (Ref. 125676). Open pelagic species, washed ashore after storms (Ref. 7727). This species hangs upside down on the surface film of the water, maintaining buoyancy by swallowing an air bubble (Ref. 844, 866). Feeds on siphonophore, Physalia, Velella, and Porpita spp. (Ref. 844). Live specimens frequently washed up on the beaches (Ref. 88739).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the order Nudibranchia are simultaneous hermaphrodites. Mating behavior: Both individuals darts their penis toward each other to induce one to act as a male and the other as the female. The victorious one to penetrate the body wall is the dominant male. Life cycle: Eggs are deposited on a substratum where they develop and hatch into (planktonic) vestigial veliger larval stage and further grow as adults.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Debelius, H. 2001. (Ref. 844)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous

Human uses


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More information

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
References
Mass conversion

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.