Monday, April 13, 2009

Nembrotha kubaryana.



These are part of the nudibranch family -- also known as "sea slugs." There are all sorts of cool designs and colors for different species, but I'll save those for another day. Most nudibranchs actually don't have a common name. There are few exceptions, but there are so many and are genearlly only referred to by scientists that they never really developed any other name. These live in the tropical Indo-Wcst Pacific. In the dark, their colors glow -- looking a lot like glowsticks in a black light. Their colors warn predators that they are poisonous -- a good defense considering this slug doesn't use shells for protection. Nudibranchs are known to have exceptional sense perceptions and their rhinophores (on the top of their head) are great for detecting odors. Their name "nudibranch" comes from latin loosely meaning "naked gills."

No comments:

Post a Comment