By Megan Harrison When seven-year-old Willow Lodge went for a walk down Mount Maunganui's Main Beach on Wednesday night, she was expecting to find some seashells for her collection. What she ended up with was quite different. "I was walking along the beach and I saw this little thing in a shell thathad some water in it," said Willow. "Then I picked it up and ran to Mum and showed her." The "thing" Willow brought home was actually a spectacular sea slug called a glaucus atlanticus, a small tropical specimen rarely found in New Zealand waters. It floats on the water and feeds on bluebottle jellyfish. "It was quite amazing, really," said Willow's mother, Katrina. "When she found it, it wasn't spread out like it is now, I think it was actually on its back. Then it started twisting and we just sort of watched it unfold in front of us. "It was a real transformation." According to Rissa Williams, a marine incursion investigator from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the glaucus atlanticus is what's known as a "circumglobal" species. "It's found virtually around the world," said Ms Williams. "Basically wherever bluebottles show up." The slugs are most often found in tropical waters and although they are often sighted along the Australian coast they are much rarer in New Zealand. Ms Lodge phoned MAF shortly after Willow brought the specimen home in hope that they would be able to identify it and let her know if it posed any danger. "I wouldn't call it 'dangerous', no," said Ms Williams. "But they are associated with bluebottles, so I wouldn't recommend that people pick them up." Willow said she was careful not to handle the slug when she first found it. "I didn't even touch it, I just picked up the shell and ran for Mum." The specimen has since been named "Weirdo" and was transferred to a plastic ice cream tub. Willow plans to take it to her Year 3 class at Mount Maunganui Primary to show classmates. After that she's not sure what she'll do with it. "We'll probably set it free, eh? Yeah, I think we should set it free."
