Nature and the underwater world never ceases to amaze, surprise and leave me in awe of it’s incredible diversity.
Nudibranchs are some of the most colourful and most varied critters we get to see. They range in size from a few millimeters to 30cm or more. The big ones are often the rarest and least seen.
Click Above to Watch Video
(Apologies if you are in Indonesia, Vimeo is blocked. You have to use a VPN to view)
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This magnificent specimen was found at around 12m deep, just cruising through the sand. It has beautiful colours and an amazing shape, something that you couldn’t make-up if you tried. It also has a little hitch-hiker, a Emperor Shrimp, which uses the nudibranch as a mobile home. The nudi moves around, bringing a constant supply of fresh food particles to the shrimp, without it having to move.
Comments
Super fun video Kaj, are the rhinophores little gills? They are pumping a lot and are so cool!
And that nudi is really moving! Perfect for video 🙂
Thanks
Di
Thanks Diana,
I think that they are acting as pumps, pumping water to the gills, which are under the mantle. You can see them under my pointy stick in the photo below
Kaj, this is a new one to me. I have not seen this one before. The areas where the mantle has purple rings around the tubercles is wonderful. It was really moving along the bottom. One thing I noted is the unique rhinophores on this species are hollow and the animal appears to pump water in and out through them. I will have to go back to my Nudi reference books to see if I can find out info on that characteristic. By the way, great video. You caught the essence of the animal. Give Babrb a hug from me. Rudy
Hi Rudy, and thanks.
See my reply to Diana below. Yes, I think they are hollow and pump the water to the gills beneath the mantle.
Hug given to Barb 🙂
Kaj