One of the earliest posts I wrote for this blog started like this: “One day I was sitting at the computer, browsing through photograph after photograph of nudibranchs online. “Ooooh, I love that one’s rhinophores!” “Look at the plumes on that one!” Then it hit me. I sat there in stunned silence as I realized. . . I am a nudiphile.” (click HERE to read the entire post)
As I sat at the computer today browsing through my own library of nudibranch images, I realized nothing has changed in the few years since I first wrote that post, except that maybe my preferences for certain nudibranchs has been refined. I thought I would share some of my most recent favorites.
Flabellina bertschi
The California coast has been experiencing unusual water temperatures due to the El Nino phenomenon this year. It has brought some of the more exotic animals from the warmer waters to the south up to visit California’s temperate water. This Flabellina bertschi has been found at Catalina Island before, during our last El Nino event in 1998, and a few other times since then, but it is not common. It is more commonly found in the South near Panama and along Mexico’s coast.
Nembrotha cristata
The Nembrotha cristata is one of my favorites because of it’s striking coloring of orange and green.
Costasiella sp
This little cutie-patootie is often called “Shaun the Sheep” because of it’s little sheep-like face. There are quite a few species and they are all very tiny, ranging from about 5mm to 15mm.
Doto ussi
It’s funny how people call uncommon animals after common things. This Doto nudi is commonly known as a grape nudibranch.
Cuthona
I am unsure of the name of this beauty, but I think it is a species of Cuthona. There are many in this group that are unclassified, but isn’t it a pretty thing?
Chromodorid
This pair of chromodorids was found in shallow water in Anilao, Philippines. They are pretty common in the Indo-Pacific.
Mushroom Coral Reticulidia
I found this cool looking nudibranch only a few feet from it’s evil twin, the Halgerda Reticulidia (see below).
If you find you can’t take your eyes off these beautiful sea slugs, or that you wish there were a lot more pictures in this post, perhaps you are a nudiphile too?
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