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Learn About Nudibranches - Sea Slug - Stunning Beauty

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Although the term "slugs" conjures up all kinds of unpleasant ideas, nudibranchs (pronounced "noo-dee-branks"), more commonly known as sea slugs, are renowned for their boundless variety and beauty. Nudibranchs are gastropod molluscs.

The undersea world contains thousands of beautiful creatures and plants. Perhaps the most stunning of all of them is the humble Nudibranch which means 'naked gill'. There are over 3,000 different kinds of nudibranchs all over the world.

Nudibranchs are amongst the most ephemeral of marine creatures. Seldom will one be able to visit a location with the intention of finding a particular species and locate it successfully. Nudibranchs tend to be rare in time and space. For example, the aeolid Babakina caprinsulensis was described, on the basis of a single specimen (collected in 1965) , from Leigh, New Zealand and no further specimen has been found subsequently despite thorough searching.

All nudibranchs are functional hermaphrodites, so they can mate with any other mature individuals they encounter

Branchial plumes

Chromodoris willani is a dorid nudibranch. Dorids breathe with branchial plumes on their back.

A nudibranch ()Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2nd edition), ISBN 0582364671 is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. The clade Nudibranchia is the largest clade within the heterobranchs, with more than 3,000 described species.

The word "nudibranch" comes from the Latin nudus, naked, and the Greek brankhia, gills.

Nudibranchs are often casually called "sea slug", but many sea slugs belong to several taxonomic groups which are not related to nudibranchs. A number of these other sea slugs (such as the colorful Aglajidae) are often confused with nudibranchs.

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Eating sea pork colonies

Nudibranchs (Nembrotha kubaryana) eating clavelina tunicate colonies. They also take the stinging cells off jellyfish when they eat them.

Lettuce sea slugs

Elysia crispata

Lettuce sea slugs (Elysia crispata) are a commonly found in protected nearshore Floridian waters where green macroalgae proliferates. They belong to a clan of sea slugs, the sarcoglossans, that are characterized by their 'sap-sucking' feeding habits of algae. These slugs slowly patrol mangrove roots and rocks searching for green algae upon which they feed. They store some of the chloroplasts from eaten algae in their tissue, giving it the green coloration. The chloroplasts continue to function, providing the slug with photosynthetic energy. The ruffles along the back of the lettuce sea slug are called parapodia, and help provide more surface area for the chloroplasts to inhabit. They also camouflage the slug amongst the leafy algae that they live amongst. It is very easy to swim past a lettuce nudibranch without ever noticing it.

cc licensed flickr photo shared by Minette Layne

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Alabaster Nudibranch

A bright Alabaster Nudibranch (sea slug) photographed in the cold waters of southern British Columbia, Canada.

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Unfortunately there is no satisfactory technique for retaining the shapes and vivid colours of living nudibranchs. They are, therefore, not amenable to storage in a collection as one would do with sea shells. Nudibranchs must be studied live. Their fragile bodies mean that special techniques must be employed if they are to be collected and kept alive.

Opisthobranchs are found in nearly all reef habitats. They occur from tide pools down to the greatest depths penetrated by Scuba divers. They are seen both in the open and under rocks and coral slabs. The key to finding them is to look for their favorite foods. The majority of species feed on algae, sponges, bryozoans, ascidians, and cnidarians. Sea hares (Anaspideans) and Sapsuckers (Sacoglossans) are primarily algal feeders. Compared to most opisthobranchs the Sea hares of the family Aplysiidae are veritable giants. Some species reach a length of 400 and 500 mm! The average nudibranch is between 3 to 300 mm in length.