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07/12/2021 A collection of Nudibranchs from the Internet

Since I started to be more and more interested in underwater photography, I stumbled upon groups and websites where people upload beautiful underwater pictures . From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Nudibranchs (/ˈnjuːdɪbræŋk/[2]) are a group of soft-bodied, marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage.[3] They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, such as “clown”, “marigold”, “splendid”, “dancer”, “dragon”,[4] or “sea rabbit”.[5] Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known.[6] The word “nudibranch” comes from the Latin nudus “naked” and the Ancient Greek βράγχια (bránkhia) “gills“. Nudibranchs are often casually called sea slugs, as they are a family of opistobranchs (sea slugs), within the phylum Mollusca (molluscs), but many sea slugs belong to several taxonomic groups which are not closely related to nudibranchs. A number of these other sea slugs, such as the photosynthetic Sacoglossa and the colourful Aglajidae, are often confused with nudibranchs. Nudibranch comes from the Latin word ‘nudus’ and the Greek word ‘brankhia,’ meaning ‘naked’ and ‘gills’ respectively. This makes sense because the little flower-type protrusions on the back of the nudibranch are the exposed (naked) gills. There are over 3,000 species of nudibranchs, from very shallow to depths of 2,500m. They are found in tropical and temperate seas as well as Antarctica, although they are most common in the shallows. From https://atmosphereresorts.com/10-things-you-did-not-know-about-nudibranchs: Some nudibranchs are poisonous while others pretend to be poisonous, which is evident by their vibrant colors. They feed on stinging cells of hydrozoids and store them in the rear of their body for protection. They can also ingest toxins from sponges and Continue Reading →