The discovery of a distinctive sea slug off Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) in Pingtung County is shedding light on climate change, a scientist said.
Although Glaucus atlanticus, the only member of the genus Glaucus, is usually found in tropical areas, it had never previously been spotted in Taiwanese waters.
Wang Tien-cheng (王添正), a bed-and-breakfast owner and tour guide, noticed a group of about 60 Glaucus atlanticus near the Duozaiping intertidal zone (肚仔坪潮間帶), while taking some customers on a tour.
Photo: Courtesy of Lo Liu-chih
The 37-year-old Wang also has 11 years of experience guiding underwater snorkeling tours and he often posts pictures of the scenic beauty of the island on his Facebook page.
After giving some of the slugs to Lo Liu-chih (羅柳墀), an assistant professor at National Kaohsiung Normal University’s department of geography, Lo’s research team confirmed that it was the first time Glaucus atlanticus had been seen in the Siaoliouciou area.
Announcing the discovery on Sunday, Lo said that Glaucus atlanticus was first discovered in 1777 by European academics.
Pointing to the slug’s three pairs of symmetrical, protruding hand-like limbs, as well as its vibrant blue tail, Lo said these feature has contributed to the origin of the slug’s name.
The Europeans who discovered the sea slug felt it resembled Glaucus, a fisherman in Greek mythology who after ingesting a magical herb which could bring fish back to life, became immortal and grew fins in place of his arms and legs, according to Roman poet Ovid.
Lo said warming seawater caused by climate change could explain the northward migration of Glaucus atlanticus, but he added that an abundance of Portuguese man-o’-war — the sea slugs favored prey along with velella, a type of jellyfish — in the waters around Siaoliouciou could also account for the presence of the sea slug.
Glaucus atlanticus are immune to the man-o’-war venom and they even have an organ which allows them to store the venom, giving the sea slugs the ability to deal a far stronger sting than the man-o’-war,
Lo warned that any observation of the slug should be done with extreme caution.
Lo also said people should avoid coming into physical contact with the slug and added that Glaucus atlanticus is not edible.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS