Nudibranchs are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod mollusca which cover with colorful pigments. It looks like slug from the sea, therefore, they have other names like "Sea Rabbit" or "Sea Slug" depending on whether they have the "rabbit ear" or not.
Coryphellina rubrolineata on rock
Nudibranch on seaweed
Fish can swim to avoid predators, oysters have shells to protect themselves. Nudibranch, however, can neither swim nor have shell to protect itself. It is hard to imagine that a species which does not swim nor has shell can survive in the extreme habitats and temperature and can endure the tidal cycle.
Animal with colorful outlook usually seems to be poisonous. It applies to Nudibranchs as well. However, not all of them are poisonous, some of them just pretend to be poisonous, so that predators will avoid eating them.
Seeing these pictures of Nudibranchs makes people wonder how big it actually is? The answer can be 0.5 cm or as large as 30 long! The Nudibranchs I saw in Hong Kong are usually just as big as my pinky finger nail. (The tiny Nudibranchs are super adorable!!!)
If you love these little creatures, start going green in your daily life style! Although "Recycle, Reuse, Reduce" are cliche, being able to do so really helps protecting our earth!
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