REAL LIFE DRAGONS

The Ruby Seadragon is a deep sea dweller that is related to seahorses. It was discovered in 2015 and is the third known species of seadragon. Only 23.5 cm (9.3 in.), this seadragon lives off the cost of Western Australia. Not much is known about the Ruby Seadragon, but like its sister seadragons, it is protected by law against collecting. We do know that, like sea- horses, the males look after the eggs, but after hatching, the young are completely independent.¹

Blue Dragon Sea Slugs are probably the beautiful killers of the ocean. Part of the nudibranch family (soft mollusks), this creature is only about one and a half inches in length, carniverous, and extremely poisonous. Blue Dragons are known to be in the vacinity of Portuguese Man-of-War pods where they process the poison from their sting and make it their own. They store the poison in their extremities and use it at higher con- centrations for prey or to ward off predators.² (Top)

The Pink Dragon Millipede is a 3 cm (1.2 in) bug that was discovered around 2007, lives in Thailand, and is extremely toxic. It lives in the open on leaf litter and becomes rather social after rain showers. It has glands that produce hydrogran cyanide as protection from predators. The cyanide contributes to the millipede’s shocking pink color and gives it a smell like almonds.¹ (Top)

Flying Dragon lizards glide gracefully from tree to tree in the forests of souther Asia.. They have a colorful membrane that runs alongside their body that gets extended when they glide. It is also used to impress a mate during breeding. At a mere 20 cm (7.9 in) long, these lizards have been recorded gliding as long as 60 m (200 ft) while only losing 10 m (33 ft) of height.¹ (Top)

The Black Dragonfish is a deep sea (1,000 m) dweller and looks remarkably like the creature from the hit movie series Alien. The females grow to 40 cm (15 in), have a long tail, and lots of teeth. The males grow to about 5 cm (2 in), have no teeth, and no digestive system. Black Dragonfish produce their own light (biolumin- escence), but unlike other fish that produce light to attract prey, the dragonfish can see their own light and the reflection of the area around them.³ (Top)

The Komodo Dragon is possibly the most well-known of the “dragon” creatures of Earth. Part of the monitor family, this lizard can be found on the Indonesian islands. It is the largest species of lizard, growing upwards to 3 meters (10 ft) long and weighs in at nearly 70 kg (150 lbs). It has a powerful bite that injects venom and an anti-coagulant into its victim.

Komodo Dragons are unusual in that they live and hunt in herds. It can run in brief sprints up to 20 km/h (12 mph), dive up to 4.5 m (15 ft) and climb trees proficiently when young. It can catch out-of-reach prey by standing on its hind legs and using its tail for support.¹ (Top)