With the temperature getting warmer and summer coming with it, many Texans will start flocking to Galveston County’s beautiful beaches. While many beach goers enjoy looking at the usual marine life like hermit crabs laying mostly dormant just barely tucked under the sand or small fish that swim frantically, there may be a new specimen that people should look out for. Galveston County is warning its visitors about blue dragons or the Blue Glaucus. The Blue Glaucus eats the venomous Portuguese Man-O’-war and becomes toxic itself making the sea slugs sting much worse than the Man-O’-wars sting.

The creatures are a beautiful vibrant bright blue that helps them blend into the water and are only 1.2 inches (3cm) long.

Junior Zachery Shleppey, who had an encounter with the beautiful creature recalled, “I thought it was just a piece of string in the water, so I was going to grab it to throw it away, but then it moved, and I immediately backed away from it. I didn’t even know they existed.”

Unfortunately, because of pollution and the exotic pet trade, these beautiful creatures, and the Man-O’-war that they feed off of, are both listed by the International Union of Conservation as endangered, but the exact number and status of the creatures is unknown because they’re so small and hard to quantify.

Island Resident Marcos Bolanos who admires the creatures, said that it was a shame that the beautiful creatures are going extinct.

“I remember going to an aquatic expo one time and seeing a bunch of these little guys and I thought they were so cool looking. It’s tough that the exotic pet trade is making these little guys go extinct.”