The last time that the presence of these stinging molluscs was documented in this area was in 1705.
The dragons have returned to the shores of Alicante. But it is not about the mythical flying beasts but about the annoying Glaucus atlanticus, known as blue dragons or sea butterflies. Several specimens of this shellless mollusk have been sighted on beaches in Orihuela, Torrevieja and Guardamarsomething that has not happened since 1705.
“It is an extraordinary finding that increases the aura of mystery about the presence on our coasts of this small marine invertebrate,” they explain. Juan Antonio Pujol, Raquel López Esclpez and Nicols Ubero in the journals ‘Mediterranean Marine Science’ and ‘Quercus’.
These animals, characteristic of the oceans Atlantic, Pacific and Indian, are easier to find in warm and temperate waters. They feed on jellyfish, including the well-known and feared Portuguese man-of-war. Due to their diet, they store poisonous chemicals from their prey in their stomachs, which makes them stinging to humans.
“They are capable of concentrating in their tissues the characteristic stinging cells of the species they consume, which is why they are usually incorrectly perceived as one of the most poisonous nudibranchs on the planet because the Portuguese man-of-war is one of its preys”, the researchers say in their article.
They use this characteristic to defend themselves and only attack if they are disturbed. And while its bite can trigger a serious reaction, death cases are very rare after a meeting
The discovery of this species again in the waters of Alicante occurred in the summer of 2021 but it has not been until now that it has come to light. “A normal day at the beach passed on August 19, 2021, the summer in which normality returned after the pandemic, when some bathers alerted the lifeguard services of the Las Estacas covein Orihuela, of the presence of three strange organisms on the seashore”, says the article.
“Two days later the same thing happened in the La Mata beach, in Torrevieja, with the appearance of three more specimens. The lifeguard coordinators contacted us and, upon receiving the photographs and videos, we knew that we were facing an exceptional event,” the researchers explain.
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