Adobe Stock
Glaucus atlanticus, or "blue dragon," washed ashore on Mustang Island, Texas.
On a beach vacation, a venomous sea slug probably isn’t high on your must-see list.
That’s exactly what San Antonio resident Erick Yanta came across on his trip to Mustang Island, an 18-mile-wide stretch of land in the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi, Texas.
While strolling along the beach, Yanta and his wife, Anna, spotted a tiny blue and white creature no longer than an inch clinging to a rock. He scooped it up to take a closer look and filmed it before carefully placing it back into the water.
Yanta didn’t know it at the time, but they had encountered the venomous Glaucus atlanticus, also known as the “blue dragon.”
“We’ve seen plenty of jellyfish like the Portuguese man-of-war, but never this animal,” Yanta said. The Portuguese man-of-war is a siphonophore, a species closely related to jellyfish, according to the National Ocean Service.
As soon as he captured the video, Yanta hopped onto Reddit so users could help him identify the animal.
They adapt to avoid predators
The blue dragon normally lives on the surface of the open ocean, said David Hicks, professor and director of the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.
The slugs have a bright blue underbelly and a softer silvery tone on their back, he said. Blue dragons float on their back so the blue on their underside can blend in with the water while the gray blends in with the sea surface, Hicks said.
This is called countershading, an evolutionary trait that helps animals avoid predators, he said.
The sea slugs can be found at nearly any beach in the tropical and subtropical latitudes, but their small size means most beachgoers don’t see them, he said.
“They are also soft-bodied, so they are often broken apart by the time they get through the surf zone and deposited on the shore,” Hicks said.
A venomous sting
Despite their small size, blue dragons pack quite a punch with their sting.
The animal eats creatures like the venomous Portuguese man-of-war and stores its prey’s stinging cells, called cnidocytes, in sacs, Hicks said. Blue dragons will use the cells to protect them from predators, and humans sometimes get caught in the crossfire.
The pain of being stung feels similar to a man-of-war sting, which can be quite painful and, in rare instances, life-threatening, Hicks said. Symptoms following a sting can include nausea and vomiting, according to American Oceans.
If you are stung by a blue dragon, it is best to go to a hospital for treatment, according to Ocean Info.
Yanta did not know that the blue dragon he found was venomous and later laughed when he realized what he had held. He said that knowing ahead of time wouldn’t have made a difference though.
“I would’ve done the same thing,” Yanta said. “I would’ve still scooped it up, filmed it and put it back in the water.”
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Sodel Vladyslav / Shutterstock
With the planet’s population growing and the global market for seafood steadily increasing, natural fish production from the world’s lakes, rivers, and oceans will be insufficient to keep up with demand in the long term. To support global demand, aquaculture is a critical resource for raising seafood efficiently and sustainably.
The USDA defines aquaculture as the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and more. The farming process includes seeding, stocking, and feeding fish, shellfish, and other aquatic products in a controlled environment. The controlled environment makes aquaculture distinct from wild caught seafood taken from a natural habitat.
Aquaculture in the U.S. represents a $1.5 billion industry annually and helps support 1.7 million jobs in the broader seafood industry, according to estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These figures place the U.S. relatively low on a global scale as an aquaculture producer—17th in total aquaculture production—but the U.S. is one of the top consumers of aquaculture imports. More than 90% of seafood in the U.S. comes from outside of the country, and around half of that total comes from farm-raised seafood.
Aquaculture products in the U.S. that generate the most sales fall in the categories of food fish and mollusks. Food fish—a category that includes any fish raised primarily for food, such as catfish, sturgeon, tilapia, trout, or salmon—accounts for nearly half of the aquaculture market by itself, with $716 million in sales each year. Mollusks—which are marine invertebrates like clams, mussels, and oysters also commonly raised as food—follow behind at $442 million sold each year.
-
Naturally, a successful aquaculture industry depends on access to geographic features that support production. This means that some regions of the U.S. are more conducive to aquaculture than others. The South leads the U.S. in production, with nearly $850 million in annual sales from aquaculture. This can be attributed to strong production of freshwater fish, especially catfish, in the areas around the Mississippi River watershed, and saltwater production in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. The West produces $475 million in aquaculture sales each year, primarily from Washington and California, which are leaders in shellfish production but also have strong saltwater and freshwater production of fish like trout, tilapia, and salmon.
-
The data used in this analysis is from the USDA’s Census of Aquaculture. To identify the states with the most aquaculture production, researchers at Commodity.com ranked states based on the total value of aquaculture products sold. Aquaculture products include food fish, sport fish, baitfish, and ornamental fish, as well as mollusks, crustaceans, and other miscellaneous aquaculture products. The total acreage by state reported in this study is the sum of freshwater and saltwater production (where available), and the most common water source is the water source characteristic of the greatest number of farms in each state.
Here are the states with the largest aquaculture industry.
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: John Wijsman / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $26,006,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 137
- Total acres: 2,909
- Most common water source: Groundwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: grandbrothers / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $28,139,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 43
- Total acres: 2,318
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Bob Pool / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $28,858,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 180
- Total acres: 1,046
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: jason merideth / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $44,763,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 41
- Total acres: 498
- Most common water source: On-farm surface water
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: JHDT Productions / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $62,594,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 107
- Total acres: 7,566
- Most common water source: Groundwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Leeahn / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $67,661,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 82
- Total acres: 29,936
- Most common water source: Groundwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Inspired By Maps / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $71,649,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 334
- Total acres: 3,410
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: leo w kowal / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $72,340,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 75
- Total acres: 1,295
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: norinori303 / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $78,429,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 49
- Total acres: 794
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Leigh Trail / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $95,199,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 120
- Total acres: 17,591
- Most common water source: On-farm surface water
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Sean Lema / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $106,021,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 116
- Total acres: 11,329
- Most common water source: Groundwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Nicole R Young / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $112,640,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 202
- Total acres: 17,797
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Frank McMains / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $135,712,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 525
- Total acres: 240,274
- Most common water source: Groundwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Edmund Lowe Photography / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $207,685,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 151
- Total acres: 16,263
- Most common water source: Saltwater
-
Shutterstock
Photo Credit: Andrew B Hall / Shutterstock
- Total value of aquaculture products sold: $215,709,000
- Total number of aquaculture farms: 176
- Total acres: 39,561
- Most common water source: Groundwater
