First edition of Monthly Marine Life

Nudibranch is a very unique creature that you may find beneath the sea. Nudibranch, according to wikipedia, is a member of Nudibranchia, a group of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. One thing that made me excited to see nudibranch during the dive is their color texture on their body. Always love taking their pictures just because their striking color. The color texture of their bodies are varied from one species to another and most of them is strikingly beautiful.

There are more than 3,000 species of nudibranch. Currently Nudi Pixel, an online database for nudibranch identification, has listed  1,412 nudibranch species with their photos available online. According to Nudi Pixel database, the top three countries with most nudibranch species found are: Indonesia (665 species), the Philippines (543 species) and Australia (473 species). With size of between 20 to 600 mm, most of the time, it is not easy to find them, but in Indonesia and the Philippines, this creature is easily spotted just because they are too many!

Nudibranch can be found on the sea floor. They have lack of vision and toxic to other marine life. Most of nudibranch is harmless to human but there are some nudibranch that produce toxins that resulting unpleasant sting to the ones who touch them. They are carnivorous. Their food include sponges, corals, sea slug, fish eggs and other nudibranch.

And nudibranch have foot! They move with flat muscle of the bottom of their body. And I saw two species like the first two below pictures that showing their foot. Nudibranch is unique, isn’t it?

Photos were taken in various places: North Sulawesi, Komodo-Flores, Malapascua, and Raja Ampat.

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