Nudibranch Domain

Images and Information about Sea Slugs from around the world

This is a site for aficionados of nudibranchs and their sea slug relatives, who want more than pretty pictures. At the launch the site is populated with an image of each species sighted on the Sunshine Coast, southern Queensland, Australia by The Sunshine Coast Sea Slug Survey Team.

As the site develops, information, more images and references about each of the species will be added providing a helpful and valuable resource. The many hundreds of Indo-Pacific species, recorded by The Team when overseas, will also be regularly added significantly broadening the resource.

There are three ways to get your hit of Sea Slug knowledge.

Species Profile features information about specific sea slugs. Navigate, Identify and Learn about species via the lists. Notification of the latest expanded entry will appear below on the Home Page.
NudiNote features specific topics that can be sourced via its Archive. Notification of the latest entry will appear below on the Home Page.
Understanding Nudibranchs is a book on general sea slug biology and behaviour that will be posted in parts, as they are completed.

Home to The Sea Slug Survey of the Sunshine Coast

The Sea Slug Snippet

Thuridilla lineolata (Bergh, 1905)

Bright blue to parapodia with orange marginal and black submarginal bands. Same blue to head and also rhinophores with orange apical tips and subapical black band.

Beahu, east from Dili, Timor Leste.

Latest NudiNote

NudiNotes are interesting and informative short articles about sea slugs and their behaviour.

HANCOCK’S ORGANS – THE “RHINOPHORES” YOU HAVE WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE RHINOPHORES

We all know about the rhinophores of the true nudibranchs - those highly developed chemical-detecting “antennae” located anteriorly on their “head”. Even sea slugs other than the true nudibranchs such as the sea hares, and the side-gilled pleurobranchs have...

“WELL, THERE’S SOMETHING YOU DON’T SEE EVERY DAY.” – Tenellia sibogae

Tenellia sibogae (or Trinchesia sibogae, depending on whose taxonomy you follow) is usually sighted upon its food - arborescent hydroids of the Sertularella genus (usually identified as Sertularella diaphanous or Sertularella quadridens). If you are searching for sea...

SIX SEPARATE SOCKETS – Hexabranchus

Hexabranchus sanguineus The name says it all. It has six gills - Hexabranchus, and is blood-coloured - sanguineus. This species was originally described from the Red Sea. Specimens from that region are not red and white mottled as in the images posted here but are a...

UNIQUELY UNITED BUT DECEPTIVE DISPLAY – THE SUCTORIAL FEEDING POROSTOMATA NUDIBRANCHS

UNIQUELY UNITED BUT DECEPTIVE DISPLAY The Suctorial Feeding Porostomata Nudibranchs In a previous NudiNote - The Little Scraper - the radula of sea slugs was discussed. Mention was also made of those sea slugs that do not possess a radula. Among the dorid nudibranchs...

AUTOTOMY – THE SELF SACRIFICE DEFENCE

Autotomy - the Self Sacrifice Defence The ability to cast off a particular section of their anatomy, in order to facilitate escape from a predator, is possessed by a wide range of animals. Although the phenomenon, even in the Mollusca, had been recognized...

VIVA VARIATION – Hypselodoris bullockii & LOOK-ALIKES

VIVA VARIATION Change is upsetting Repetition is tedious. Three cheers for variation! Mason Cooley Across all of the Sea Slugs there is an almost endless amount of variation. Different shapes, sizes, textures, patterns and colours. We aficionados of the Sea...

THE LITTLE SCRAPER – THE RADULA

The Little Scraper Nearly all the sea slugs, just like nearly all the molluscs (except the bivalves), possess a radula in the buccal cavity for feeding. The radula is used not unlike a combination of teeth and tongue to rasp at, puncture, slash or grip the prey for...

SORTING OUT THE TRUE NUDIBRANCHS

Sorting out the True Nudibranchs The Nudibranchs are but one order, the Nudibranchia, in the informal group that we refer to under the umbrella of Sea Slugs although common and popular usage has seen the term Nudibranchs used incorrectly to refer to all the sea...

THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE – Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum

THE EXCEPTION TO “THE RULE” Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum is a rarely sighted, though widely distributed, species first recorded from Okinawa by Bob Bolland in 1987. The 15 mm long specimen pictured here was found in the Mooloolah River, southern Queensland, Australia...

CONGRESS ON CODIUM – Elysia maoria

CONGRESS ON CODIUM All of the sea slugs in the Sacoglossa order are herbivorous, well nearly all, a very few prey on the eggs of other sea slugs. However, that great majority that feed on plants do so by puncturing the cell walls of algae and sucking out the contents....

The current NudiNote is displayed above. Click to read more or slide to earlier NudiNotes using the arrows which appear when hovering over the image. Alternatively all the NudiNotes may be accessed via the button on the navigation bar above.

Species Profile

All species sighted have been listed on the website with at least one image. There is an ongoing update process whereby information about each species including references and additional images will be added. As each species is enhanced it will be featured here as a temporary notification of that latest update.

Phyllodesmium magnum

Information about this species has been added to its page with references. Additional images have been added to the gallery.

News and Updates

A new page will be coming to the website soon. RECORD OF FINDS will be a chronological archive of the dive and intertidal surveys undertaken by The Team detailing the species finds and circumstances.