The vividly-coloured nudies are some of the most interesting animals in the seas. Here’s five reasons why:

Nudibranch comes from the Latin word ‘nudus’ and the Greek word ‘brankhia,’ meaning ‘naked’ and ‘gills’ respectively. This makes sense because the little flower-type protrusions on the back of the nudibranch are the exposed gills.
There are over 3,000 species of nudibranchs, living from shallow waters to depths of 2,500m. They are found in tropical and temperate seas as well as Antarctica.
Some nudibranchs are poisonous, while others pretend to be poisonous.
Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites! That’s right, each one is simultaneously a male and a female – they possess reproductive organs of both sexes. While mating they fertilize each other, although a nudibranch cannot fertilize itself. They then both lay eggs in a beautiful spiral.
Some nudibranchs are solar-powered. These species harvest algae from plants or coral and house this algae inside of their bodies. This algae derives its energy from light via photosynthesis, which is then used by the nudibranch.

Wantok Photography

Doris the Chromodoris Nudibranch