The different Sea Slugs in the World
Sea slugs are classified as Nudibranch, which means "naked gill". Apart of the phylum Mollusca.
Sea slugs are a group of mollusks (soft-bodied) that live primarily in marine habitats like coral reefs. They get their food, shelture, and defense mechanism from the coral reefs. Many of the Sea slugs consume sponges and cnidarians for which they get their own protection. When the nudibranchs feed on cnidarians, like coral and jellyfish, they can absorb their toxin/sting cells and can be used as protection. Nudibranchs collect those toxins from their food or make it themselves. These toxins/sting cell are stored in their cerata, which is the long things on their backs. Since sea slugs lose their shells before they hit adulthood, they have ceratas with toxin/sting cells at the tips to keep them safe from predators getting too close. The nudibranchs can also release it into the water when needed.
The horn like structure in the front of the sea slug is called rhinophores. Rhinophores are able to sense and pick up chemical signals in the water. These senses allow sea slugs to mate with other sea slugs, avoid predators, and sense changes in the water pressure and vibrations. There are different nerves in the rhinophores that send information to the brain. Some sea slugs lack rhinophores but they have structures that aid in their sense of smell.
Sea slugs breathe through their gills which are usually located in the back. When it's not found on the back part of the body, then they can be found deep inside the body cavity. Gills and rhinophores come in different colors, shapes, and sizes, and can be used to identify/classify the sea slugs. The gills revolve around the anus of the sea slug. They have an ability called cryptobranchia in which they can retract their gills into a small pocket on the surface of their bodies. This ability is used as a form of protection for when they are touched or threatened. Some sea slugs lack the defined gills so they have specialized body appendages called cerata. Yes, the cerata can be both used for a defense mechanism and a form of collecting oxygen from seawater.
Sea slugs eat sponges, coral, anemones, hydroids, bryozoans, tunicates, algae, and sometimes other nudibranch. The sea slugs color depends on what they eat. So if they mostly eat orange coral, then they have an orange color. When they eat, they use a radula that acts as a cheese grater that moves back and forth to grasp and shred food. Their mouth is located in the front by their rhinophores.
Nudibranchs find their mate by following another nudibranchs slime trail until they meet the other one. Their genitals are on the right side of their bodies, so both nudibranchs have to position themselves to match up their parts like a high five. While they are matched together, then 4 genitals connect with each other. Each nudibranch has both a penis and a vagina, so both nudibranchs are getting fertilized. After they mate, they place their fertilized eggs on the ocean floor and begin the circle of life again.
Nudibranch Sea Slugs | National Geographic
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Sea Bunny
Scientific name: Jorunna parva
Location: off the coast of Japan, philippines, and in the Indian Ocean.
Food: Sponges
Sea Bunnies are born as hermaphrodites, they produce both sperm and eggs in their body but they still need to find a mate to fertilize their own eggs in order to reproduce. The Sea bunnies gills are located at the back of the body which resembles a tail and two long antennae called rhinophores that looks like bunny ears. It’s believed that the Sea bunny began its life in a shell but is discarded before adulthood. Since they lose their shell, their only defense mechanism is a highly potent toxin called macrolide B. This toxin has interested pharmacological applications. Its known to scientists that the toxin is unusually able to limit the spread of cancer cell in the human body. Scientists are still trying to figure out how this is happening.
2
Blue Angel
Scientific name: Glaucus atlanticus
Location: Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North Central South-Americas.
Food: Portuguese Man-o-war
This little guy is known to steal the venomous nematocysts from their prey and concentrate the venom into their own bodies. The venomous sting is extremely painful and possibly dangerous. They store the venom in the tips of their cerata. This creature floats by storing an air bubble in their stomach, causing them to lay on their back with their stomach facing the sky. This causes their stomach to be darker than their backs. Since they float, they often get wasted up in unexpected places and soon die.
3
Spun of light
Scientific name: Phyllodesmium poindimiei
Location: Australia, Hawaii, and Indo-Pacific. (coral reefs)
Food: Soft corals
This sea slug lives in diverse marine habitats like coral reefs. They are nocturnal. This creature has a translucent slender delegate body with the cerata being cylindrical, smooth and curved at the tips.
4
Hypselodoris Kanga
Scientific name: Hypselodoris kanga
Location: Indian and West Pacific Ocean
Food: sponges from the genus Dysidea
This sea slugs rhinophores are red and the rhinophore stalks deep blue. This species of sea slug can reach the total amount of 70mm (2.8 in).
5
Spanish shawl
Scientific name: Flabellina iodinea
Location: West coast of North America
Food: orange polyps of the athecate hydroid Eudendrium ramosum
The bright colors on this creature tells the predators that they are either poisonous or distasteful. When they are threatened, they can gracefully move away by flexing their body strongly and pushing off from the substrate and into midwater.
6
Leopard sea slug
Scientific name: Peltodoris atromaculata
Location: Mediterranean sea and Atlantic ocean
Food: sponges Petrosia ficiforms and Haliclona fulva
This creature is known as the dotted sea slug or sea cow. Their reproduction is restricted during the summer which causes them to spawn for 3-4 days. The adults can grow to an average length of 5 to 7 cm and is able to grow up to 12 cm. They have been observed to live up to 15 months in the laboratory and they die generally a few weeks after reproduction.
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Pustulose wart slug
Scientific name: Phyllidiella pustulosa
Location: Indo-West Pacific
Food: Sponges
They are the most common nudibranchs throughout the Indo-West pacific. The color of tubercles in this species can range in pink, green, and/or white. The intensity of the pink coloration are possibly related to diet and time since feeding. This sea slug lacks the radular teeth for feeding, so they have a foregut and a set of glands that reduces their food into a liquid before they eat it.
8
Orange peel doris
Scientific name: Acanthodoris lutea
Location: Ranges from Cape Arago, Oregon to northern Baja California, Mexico
Food: bryozoans of the genus Alcyonidium
This creature can reach to 30mm in length. They release a distinct odor when being handled. They live in the intertidal and subtidal zones on rocky shores. Their color is a warning to predators.
9
Streaked chromodoris
Scientific name: Chromodoris strigata
Location: The Great Barrier Reef,Australia and Madagascar (so Indo-West Pacific)
Food: Sponges
This creature has characteristic pattern of dark translucent patches in the dorsum. They are arranged in a regular pattern with a pair behind the rhinophores, one in the centre of the dorsum and a pair just to the front of the gills.
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White lined Dirona
Scientific name: Dirona albolineata
Location: Shores of Japan, Siberia, and Southern Alaska to Southern California
Food: bryozoans, small snails, sea anemones, hydroids, tunicates
Their egg mass contains about 350,000 eggs. Their is flattened and they cerata fall off easily. They feed on small snails such as Margarites pupillus and Lacuna carinatus by cracking the shells with their jaws.
The different Sea Slugs in the World
All the Sea slug's locations
World map show the distribution of the Cuthonella species
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