The Portuguese man-of-war is 50 times bigger than this nudibranch, a tiny sea slug. But in this David-versus-Goliath scenario, don't bet against the nudibranch. It can nibble away at its enemy's deadly tentacles and use the man-of-war's stingers for its own.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "World's Weirdest: Amazing Sting Defense", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/invertebrates-animals/other-invertebrates/weirdest-nudibranch/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/nudibranch/", "name": "Nudibranch Animal Profile" } ] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/weirdest-nudibranch.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/weirdest-nudibranch/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/core_media/ngphoto/image/55917_0_616x346.jpg", "transcript": "Nudibranchs are sea slugs.
They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors...and super powers.
This nudibranch hovers near the water\u2019s surface.
It has the ability to stay buoyant by gulping large amounts of air and floating like a balloon.
It drifts toward its prey\u2014the Portuguese man-of-war.
The man-of-war is more than 50 times the size of the nudibranch.
Suicidally insane? Not when you have super powers.
It nips away at the man-of-war\u2019s tentacles.
They are covered in stinging nematocysts, capable of killing a small fish, or making a grown man cry.
But the nudibranch is immune, thanks to a thick layer of mucus coated around its mouth.
While it gobbles tentacles, it also ingests some of the nematocyst stingers.
Whatever doesn't kill a nudibranch makes it stronger.
It passes the stingers from its gut to underneath its skin and recycles them for its own defense.
So when this file fish tries to take a bite out of the nudibranch, the fish gets a painful jolt. But nothing more.
Nudibranchs are sea slugs.
They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors...and super powers.
This nudibranch hovers near the water's surface.
It has the ability to stay buoyant by gulping large amounts of air and floating like a balloon.
It drifts toward its prey-the Portuguese man-of-war.
The man-of-war is more than 50 times the size of the nudibranch.
Suicidally insane? Not when you have super powers.
It nips away at the man-of-war's tentacles.
They are covered in stinging nematocysts, capable of killing a small fish, or making a grown man cry.
But the nudibranch is immune, thanks to a thick layer of mucus coated around its mouth.
While it gobbles tentacles, it also ingests some of the nematocyst stingers.
Whatever doesn't kill a nudibranch makes it stronger.
It passes the stingers from its gut to underneath its skin and recycles them for its own defense.
So when this file fish tries to take a bite out of the nudibranch, the fish gets a painful jolt. But nothing more.
", "id": "weirdest-nudibranch" } }