texas

Rare Creature Spotted at South Padre Island

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Rare and beautiful blue dragons, a sea slug that eats Portuguese man o’ wars, has been spotted on South Padre Island. Beach-goers are being urged to take pictures but don’t touch them because their defense mechanisms are quite painful.

A sea slug which is not commonly spotted on beaches appeared on South Padre Island.

Blue dragons are washing up on the shore.

The creatures can cause immense pain if touched.

Blue dragons give a sting similar to a Portuguese man o'war but its sting is actually worse.

"It's pretty rare," said David Hicks, UTRGV Director for the School of Marine Sciences.

"We don't see a lot of them but they are reported from Texas, that community of organisms they kind of go around in masses of water, if you see one you, see 1,000 of them."

Hicks adds that while these bright blue creatures are only around one inch, they can eat a Portuguese man o' war, which is a jellyfish twice their size.

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