32nd edition of Marine Life monthly post. Marine Life post published every 19th of the month. It aims to share information about the marine life species and to promote their conservation. All images in this post are taken by Indah Susanti unless stated otherwise.

Jorunna Funebris

I have to say nudibranch is one of my favorite photography subjects when scuba diving. Indonesia is luckily having the largest number of nudibranch species, thanks to the vast ocean that connects its 17,508 islands. Jorunna funebris is one of the species that you can find in Indonesia. In fact, these images were taken in Maluku, Indonesia. Their black dots on their white body remind me of the Oreo cookies. But somehow, the nudibranch was also being called as Funeral nudibranch. I am not sure what is the reason, perhaps because of its black and white colors.

Jorunna Funebris

Nudibranch Jorunna funebris is a dorid nudibranch. It has something to do with the biology classification called the clade Doridacea. As a dorid nudibranch, Jorunna funebris has the following anatomy (source):

Rhinophores are like their nose and perhaps eyes too. They become scent or taste receptors and help the nudibranch to response to water current. Meanwhile, the gills are their respiratory organ. Perhaps it is best to describe the nudibranch like a snail without its shell. Its body is flexible, and often we saw them hanging on top of coral in a weird position.

Jorunna funebris on top of soft coral

As a dorid nudibranch, Jorunna funebris are carnivores with diet range from algae, sponges, anemones, corals, and other nudibranchs. In human’s world, they are sort of cannibals. Yikes.

Two Jorunna funebris. Are they going to eat each other?

Sadly, the lifespan of this cute looking animal is not long. Some nudibranch could live up to one year while the other species just for a couple weeks, less than a month. I am not sure how long the lifespan of Jorunna funebris, but for sure their images will stay on this blog for a bit longer 🙂