Beautiful Nudibranchs: Colorful Sea Slugs
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© Copyright 2011 Cindy Murdoch (homesteadbound)
Speaking of Nudibranchs:
"Of all the creatures in the sea, these are the high fashion models." ~David Doubilet, photographer for National Geographic
I have had several salt water aquariums over the years, and have always been fascinated with the life forms that can be found in the ocean. I envy those who have traveled to exotic locations and have taken all these fantastic pictures. I never had much luck keeping Nudibranchs (pronounced “noo-dee-branks”), also known as Sea Slugs, in any of my aquariums, but have always admired their exquisite beauty.
Naked Gills
Nudibranch is a Latin word that literally means “naked gills”. This name refers to the feathery gills and horns that most have on their backs. Most nudibranchs are around one inch in length, but they pack a lot of intricate beauty in that small size.
As you browse through this article, if you would like to see a larger image of the nudibranchs, just click on the picture. In my search for images, I was overwhelmed by all the shapes, sizes, forms, colors, textures and patterns that could be found.
I found a child’s description, “It is something like a flatworm that looks tie dyed”, both amusing and apt.
Although there are more than 3000 nudibranch species throughout the world’s oceans, divers are often able to spot species that have not been previously scientifically identified.
Over 160 different species have been identified along the California coast alone!
They most often inhabit shallow, tropical waters.
Nudibranchs, however, can be found in both shallow and deep waters. Some nudibranchs navigate the oceans by swimming, either by undulation of their entire bodies or by flapping fin-like structures along their bodies. Most move through ocean habitats using a sticky foot located along the full length of their body.
The typical lifespan in the wild is approximately one year; although, some live less than one month.
Nudibranchs are Carnivores
Most nudibranchs are carnivores eating soft corals, snails, anemones, hydroids, and sponges. Most eat sponges. Some nudibranchs eat other nudibranchs.
Some even eat algae which they then utilize as a continuing food source. (See solar power below for more information.)
Generally a species of nudibranch will feed exclusively on one type of prey, rather than consuming all of the aforementioned creatures.
Solar Power?
Some species have developed a way to harness energy from the sun. They have been able to develop a symbiotic relationship with very small algae, zooxanthelle. The nudibranch stores the algae in its tissues and lives off the sugars produced by the algae’s photosynthesis.
Another nudibranch is able to save and use chloroplasts found in the algae it consumes.
The Nudibranch is a Mollusk
The nudibranch is an invertebrate and a shellfish, but unlike other shellfish such as snails and clams, does not have a hard shell. Some hatch out with a small shell still intact, but lose this shell as they mature.
They can range from less than .5 inches (a few millimeters) to over 12 inches (30 centimeters) in length.
One nudibranch, the sea lemon, can reach lengths of 20 inches.
Their Defense Mechanisms
Because they lack a shell to protect themselves, nudibranchs have had to develop fascinating ways of defending themselves. One such defense is to produce a very distasteful secretion to deter their predators.
Some nudibranchs are also able to store special stinging cells, also called nematocyst cells, from the creatures they eat, such as sea anemones, jelly fish, and corals. When eating one of these creatures, rather than digesting the nematocyst cells, the nudibranch will attach these stinging cells to their own skin and tentacles. Then, when attacked, the nudibranch will discharge the stinging cells causing their predators to retreat.
Still others use camouflage to help them blend into the colorful corals they inhabit in order to hide from their predators. But most nudibranchs have very intricate and vivid color patterns to let their predators know that they might want to think twice about taking a bite.
Common predators are other nudibranchs, sea hares, inexperienced fish, and humans (collectors).
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau
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"It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears.
We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea--whether it is to sail or to watch it--we are going back from whence we came." ~ John F. Kennedy
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"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea." ~Isak Dinesen
"My soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Nudibranch Reproduction
All nudibranchs are hermaphroditic, meaning that they act as both male and female. This helps "even the odds" of such a small creature in such a large ocean being able to find a mate. Eggs are usually deposited in a coiled ribbon type mass. Many times the egg mass is larger than the Nudibranch laying them!?!
Upon hatching, some species of nudibranchs emerge as a crawling juvenile; however, most hatch out as free swimming larvae who float and/or swim for a time until settling down to the bottom of the ocean floor.
"Nudibranchs have a marvelous sex life. They are hermaphrodites."
~David Doubilet
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© Copyright 2011 Cindy Murdoch (homesteadbound)
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Watch and listen to ...
Spanish Dancer
Related Mollusk Articles by this Author:
- Chitons, Sea Cradles, or Coat-of-Mail Shells
This article is a visual and factual tour of the chiton, a mollusk that lives in the ocean. - Limpet Snail: Mollusk
A pictorial and factual article about limpets. Limpets are a mollusk, and a snail. They can be found in freshwaters and saltwaters. - Octopus or Devilfish
A visual and factual tour of the octopus. Discover the octopus through pictures, text, and videos. - Sea Hares, Seahare Slug
A visual and factual tour through the world of the sea hare. Learn interesting things about another member of the mollusk family, the sea hare.
Other Articles About Sealife by this Author:
- Christmas Tree Worms - Colorful Ocean Sealife
A visual journey through the world of Christmas Tree Worms. Amazing photos and interesting facts make this a must see and read.
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Comments: "Beautiful Nudibranchs: Colorful Sea Slugs"Loading...
I am always amazed by the sheer diversity of life, and how beautiful the world can be.
tlmcgaa - thanks so much for stopping by. I appreciate your comments on the hub. And yes, they are really beautiful. I had a hard time limiting the pictures to the ones that I did. I had to finally just stop looking. But it was so tempting.
DDS - I agree! And these little creatures have much diversity all by themselves, and they are such a small part of the life forms in our world. Thanks for stopping by.
Very informative! I remember doing a school project on these creatures in high school. They are so neat looking.
Very informative, very beautiful, and very much part of the reason I don't live in the ocean with umpty-gazillion carnivorous little nudibranchs. And other stuff.
Of course, maybe if I'd learn to swim....
blairtracy - yes, they are very neat looking. In fact, I find them to be one of my favorite sea creatures. Thanks for stopping by.
Ghost32 - I am right there with you. No matter how many times I've taken swimming lessons, I have never learned to swim. The one time I did get to go snorkeling in Jamaica, they had me use an inner tube that was tethered to the boat. Interesting to say the least. Thanks for visiting.
Wow, I never heard of these creatures before now. Beautiful in a scary sort of way. I really liked the photos and the spanish dancer video. Thanks for sharing this with us. Great hub! Voted up and interesting. : )
september girl- I'm glad that I was able to introduce you to these intriguing creatures. They are one of my favorite sea creatures.
Homesteadbound, another fascinating hub and awesome pictures!!!! I love the ocean and am a keen snorkeler. It's amazing what you get to see...these sea slugs come in so many shapes, sizes and colors.
You are doing so well in your hub-writing. Keep on going!
cloverleaf, thanks sharing your appreciation of this hub. I bet you get to see some pretty cool creatures snorkeling in the carribean. Sea Slugs are really fascinating and lovely.
Nice article! Thank you for the link.
I too love nudibranchs and I spend hours under the water looking for them and photographing them.
Have you seen the cannibal nudibranch?
Dive Mistress - Your photographs were a pleasure to use in this article. I am glad you like the way they were used and portrayed. I will have to look up the cannibal nudibranch and see about adding it. There are so many beautiful nudibranchs I had trouble controlling myself and not adding a hundred more to this article. It was so hard to choose. I finally had to just stop looking! Thanks for stopping by!
Wow...fantastic hub homestead! Beautiful photos! I've learned about Nudibranchs today! BTW ... I really enjoyed your interview in this weeks newsletter! You and Cloverleaf are this weeks rock stars! Great job!!!
Sunshine625 - They really are beautiful creatures. There is so much color, beauty and intricate detail packed into such a small creature. It is really amazing. I'm glad you liked the hub. Thank you for taking time to read the interview. Thanks for stopping by!
These pictures are out of this world. I took marine biology is college, and we learned a little bit about these guys. They are really fascinating, and kudos for writing a hub about such a cool topic.
stephaniedas - this is one of my favorite hubs. These creatures are so gorgeous. It did take a while though to do since it has 45 pictures. The first time I did it, I didn't annotate the pictures properly. Going back and finding all those pictures again took some doing. But I am happy with the results and I learned a lesson I will not forget. Glad you enjoyed it!
Great article and really good pictures - You are amazing
manthy, thank you so much! I think I'm blushing. That was really nice of you to say. I'm glad you enjpyed it!
never seen this before.WOW!..Great hub, homesteadbound!
marimccants - I'm glad you enjoyed it. They really are beautiful.
Amazing photos and a great Hub. They are like the "butterflies of the sea".
thank you, doodlebugs! They really are beautiful. When creating this hub, I finally had to cry uncle because I just kept finding more and more great pictures. Maybe I could do a second one with totally new pictures. That's an idea... hummmm
Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for re-sharing this, Ms. hsb. I meant to read it awhile back but never got a "round tuit". What fabulous little critters! This planet really is an amazing place, isn't it? Voted up and awesome - great information and gorgeous pictures.
Thank you Hillbilly Zen! I have been getting so many new followers that every now and then when one of them mentions an interest, I share that hub so they can see it. I'm glad you finally got to take a look at it. The amount of pictures in this one took a long time to gather and annotate properly, but it is one of my favorites. I love looking at them. They are indeed fabulous. Thanks for stopping by!
I find them graceful especially when they move (one time I saw them aired by the Discovery channel). Voted up!
honmesteadbound,
Absolutely awesome! When I teach group fitness, I like to bring in sea creatures. Dolphins and Manatees. I love the sea and animals and my client's faces lite up when I change the name of an exercise movement. I have bookmarked this for further reference. Stunning!
Ahydz - The video, especially the Spanish dancer video does show them to be very graceful when swimming. Thank you for stopping by!
GmaGoldie - Thank you so much for your awesome comment. I can see where naming exercise moves after sea creatures could make it more fun. Just imagine you are swimming thru the water with them while doing the exercise, or imagine being them. What a lovely thought.
Thanks for sharing!
We used to go to the tide pools at Corona Del Mar in California, and we nearly always found sea slugs there. They can be beautiful! The ocean is just amazing - one of these days, I want to get to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
I used to have a salt-water tank, too, though I never delved into invertebrates. We did a fish-only tank (a few yellow tangs, a trigger fish, and some blue damsels). It did well, but we knew that invertebrates are harder to take care of than the fish!
leahlelfer - I think it would be wonderful to see nudibranchs in tidal pools. They really are gorgeous. And I think the barrier reef would be gorgeous and have an enormous about of sealife to be seen.
I miss my fish tanks but the floors of the house I live in now probably would not support them. Fish tank are so relaxing.
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful insight.
The Great Barrier Reef is the first place I saw them, years ago on a school excursion. They are amazing creatures. A beautiful hub, thank you.
Blossom SB - I have never seen these lovely creatures in the wild. What a joy that must have been. Thank you for stopping by!
Lovely animals and you added such excellent pictures. I especially like the videos. Voting this Up and Baautiful.
Fabulous hub and the photos are amazing! I particularly liked the child's description of the tie-dye! Overall, I come away with the sense of what a beautiful world we live in.
alocsin - I am so pleased that you enjoyed the images that I choose to include in this hub. There are thousands to choose from, and although I enjoyed looking through them, it was a time consuming process. Thanks for the votes and for stopping by!
SilverGenes - I am so happy that you enjoyed this hub. I can't help but enjoy it all over again each time I come here to answer comments. Thanks so much for stopping by!
homesteadbound, you hubs are excellent for mood boards for fashion. it is inspiring!
anjperez - What a lovely thing to say! Some of these creatures are certainly inspirational. Thanks so much!
Another lovely hub - these are such gorgeous creatures. It makes me miss my days of doing research on marine invertebrates (mostly sea urchins!). Sharing this with my followers:)
Wow are those real :)
Thanks you, Kris Heeter! I am glad that you found these creatures as gorgeous as I do. I love the ocean and all that is in it. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi, lobobrandon! Yes they are real! They are amazing and gorgeous! Thanks so much for stopping by!
It's amazing! really nice Hub I am glad to appreciate for this. Voted up :)
fascinating creature and mindblowing phots. another wonderful hub. up and shared!
The first image was like a dragon, but my favorite is the second, Dirona albolinieata. It looks so awesome. If I'd be asked what would I prefer be like if given the same selection of creatures, I'd prefer be that.
Beautiful.
alvinalex - I am glad that you liked this hub. It is one of my favorites.
PDXKaraokeGuy - I thank you so much for sharing this hub. I really do find these creatures to be amazing!
rLcasaLme - It was indeed hard to pick which one should be first, but I was intrigued by the nudibranch's dragon appearance. But the second one is gorgeous as well.
Thanks to all of you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
sea creatures in general are rather fascinating.
PDXKaraokeGuy - I agree with you there. It's like a whole new world - especially around the reefs.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
I just noticed that you mentioned fish-tanks in one of your replies. I don't have any now, either, but they are really the most relaxing pets to have and they don't take a lot of work, either.
BlossomSB - yes I do miss my fish tanks. I had several different kinds, but the saltwater live reef was fairly labor intensive. But I loved it! Thanks so much for stopping by!
cindy... i've only had tropical fish tanks... did you enjoy having a marine one?
PDXKaraokeGuy - I thoroughly enjoyed mine, but it is 10 times more work and many times more expensive. Fish get sick and die easily because what you need to treat the fish iseases will often kill your invertebrates such as all these gorgeous creatures in this hub. If I had the money, I would definitely do it again. My last set up was a live reef, and that is the way to go. I also had an algae scrub tank/filter underneath for the water to cycle through. If you decide to do it, do a lot of research first.
This hub is amazing! I feel like I just visited the most wonderful aquarium in the world, or maybe I had a great scuba adventure among creatures far more beautiful than those on the surface of the earth. This is so well-researched and illustrated. Thanks for introducing us to this delicate and gorgeous creature.
Voted up, beautiful, awesome and interesting!
I think these creatures are so beautiful and amazing. This is one of my favorite hub. So glad to introduce you to nudibranch. Thanks so much!
tlmcgaa70 Level 6 Commenter 9 months ago
stunningly beautiful creatures. thank you for sharing...awesome hub...voted up on everything but funny