Play Bit-o-critter, round 16

The fish people have had it way too easy lately, so here's one of "the other 95%"

Remember - if you get it right, you have to follow up with some details so the rest of us learn something

Comments

[Miriam]

The pelagic sea slug Glaucus atlanticus! Glaucus is found throughout the subtropical open oceans of the world. However, it’s usually far from shore, feeding on pelagic jellies.

I blogged on it http://deepseanews.com/2010/01/sea-slugs-have-self-esteem-too/" rel="nofollow">here.

[Al Dove]

Ding ding ding! An early winner. Of course, if anyone could get it, it would be Miriam, part of the DeepSeaNews crew.

We used to see Glaucus on the beach in Australia all the time, munching on bluebottles in the shallows. Would that be a different species?

Al

[Miriam]

So far as anyone knows, they're the same species - there's only one species of Glaucus. (though I would be very interested to see someone do some population genetics on them - hard to believe it's _really_ the same species ranging from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific).

It does have a cousin, Glaucilla marginata, which is also found in Australia. They tend to be much smaller than Glaucus. More at the excellent http://www.seaslugforum.net/message/22167" rel="nofollow">Sea Slug Forum.