Invertebrate Guide - Sea Slugs

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A Walk on the Slimy Side - Sea Slugs.
Text and Photos by Clay Bryce

Moridilla brockii: These aeolid nudibranchs feed on stinging hydroids. By recycling the stinging cells from the hydroid to the projections (cerata) on its back, they are able to give predators a nasty surprise.

"Orange and speckled and fluted nudibranchs slide gracefully over the rocks, their skirts waving like the dresses of Spanish dancers", so writes John Stienbeck in the pages of his 1945 classic, Cannery Row.

Nudibranchs have always fascinated people - even scientists whom, contrary to popular belief, not only appreciate the varied survival strategies of these animals but also the splendor of their colorful mantles. As early as the third century BC, when a very observant Aristotle wrote his Historia Animalium, scientists have marveled and wondered how such delicate creatures can withstand the rigors of the underwater world.

Read this fascinating article on the life hitory strategies of sea slugs, with special emphasis on those species from Western Australia.