Tiny, beautiful, and dangerous blue dragon sea slugs are washing ashore on Texas beaches.

The words “blue dragon” and “sea slug” do not seem to go together. The image of a dragon, of any color, and a slug just do not seem to overlap. Nevertheless, the sea slug glaucus atlanticus known as the blue dragon (as well as the sea swallow, blue angel, and the blue ocean slug) does look and act more ferociously than its size or designation might suggest.

The strangely beautiful but tiny sea slug only grows to about an inch and a half long. It floats on the surface of the ocean and is known to prey on the much larger Portuguese Man o’ War. The blue dragon is immune to the Man o’ War’s toxins. Indeed, the blue dragon concentrates its toxins so that it can produce a nasty sting three to five times more powerful than the Man o’ War. Humans handling the blue dragon may receive a very painful and potentially dangerous sting causing vomiting and disorientation. There is a video about this remarkable sea slug, after the page break.

Look, but don’t touch: Blue dragons wash ashore in Texas

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.