When you hear the word nudibranch, you will most likely instantly think of a sea slug. Although nudibranches are considered to be sea slugs, not all sea slugs are nudibranches. There are many other groups of shell-less gastropods that are not nudibranches, such as sea hares, sea butterflies, and sea angels (all of which are extremely weird looking). You might be wondering why I'm making a blog post about nudibranches. Well, not too long ago, I stumbled on an amazing gallery on National Geographic with a huge diversity of nudibranches, which I will provide a link to later on.
Nudibranch means "naked gills," which is apt, since they breathe through "naked" gill shaped plumes near their rear, instead of through gills. Nudibranches come in a large variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Most species come with venomous appendages on their sides that deter predators. Their eyes are mostly simple; they can only discern light from dark.
They are carnivorous; they eat a variety of things, from sea sponges to other sea slugs. Some nudibranches live near the surface of the water, using air to buoy them and keep them at the surface. Some nudibranches eat the tentacles off of creatures such as jellyfish and then passing the stingers from its prey into their skin.
Here's the link I was discussing earlier. In that gallery, you'll find an amazing assortment of nudibranches...
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/doubilet-photography
3 comments:
Wow, crazy looking. I don't think I'd ever heard of a nudibranch so I don't know what I thought of when I first read the name :)
Cool colors.
Nice link. Sometimes it's hard to tell these creatures' heads from their tails.
-Arwen
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