Whales, Wildlife & Wilderness                                                                                                                                                 Pam & Wayne Osborn

Nudibranchs & Other Molluscs

 

Nudibranchs

 

There are no gender equality battles for these exotic  and intricately patterned hermaphroditic molluscs. Although it does take two to tango, each are fully equipped with male and female apparatus.

 

Nudibranchs are reef browsers and lay their colourful egg strings on the  substrate. Their lives are short, one year or less and they grow to a body length of around 3-150mm.

 

The name comes from latin and means 'naked gill.' A reference to the rosette of gills on their back used for respiration.

 

They are a favourite with divers and their slow movements make them easy to photograph.

 

The species identifications are my own best endeavours - all errors are solely the author's.  Feedback to the email address  on the home page welcomed.

 

A free ebook of these images is available - A Small Compendium of Nudibranchs. To download click the iBooks logo below.

 

Left: Chromodoris willani,

Wakatobi Reefs, Sulawesi