Image generator : YouTube
No , you ’re not seeing twice . This neon gullible - and - orange ocean slug really does have two heads .
Divers working on a docudrama about Borneo caught this two - faced sea slug in action , according to recent reports . While no one understands the exact case of its deformity , the Sojourner Truth is that even with two heads , this slug is far from the strange nudibranch in the sea .
Image Source:YouTube
If you hear the word “ nudibranch ” and consider “ naked , ” you ’re not immature – the word has Latin and Greek roots and rough interpret as “ defenseless lamella , ” since many species , like this bright pinkTritoniopsis elegans , display beautiful , feathery gills on their backs .
Image origin : Flickr
Nudibranch sea slugs have the same squishy , elongate body as your standard garden - variety beast , and most are actual shellfish , full cousin to snail and commonwealth slugs . However , sea slug sea slugs extend more biological – and visual – intrigue than the creatures you ’ll find in your grandma ’s garden .
Image Source:Flickr
For instance , nudibranch extremity often extract other brute – even citizenry . Such was the cause with a late discovered ocean slug dubbedTritonia khaleesi . Yes , scientists determined that the appearing of this half - in - long , lank and wan slug was similar enough toGame of Thrones’Daenerys Targaryen ( more specifically , the Mother of Dragons ’ long , blonde braids ) that they could name it after her .
Image author : Gizmodo
Like Khaleesi herself , nudibranch are more than a pretty face . One species , Glaucus atlanticus(a.k.a . the blue dragon ) , cruises the ocean like a blue dragon : its prey includes the Portuguese man o ’ warfare , a jellyfish - alike creature whose stings are so awful that it take in the byname “ floating terror . ”
Image Source:Gizmodo
Not only is this quick nudibranch resistant to the man o ’ warfare ’s brutal gyp , it in reality devours the man o ’ warfare , stingers and all . Glaucus atlanticusand its smaller relativeGlaucus marginatus(seen below , wrestle harmlessly ) can in reality incorporate poison from the humankind o ’ warfare ’s nematocysts into their own body . By stealing toxins from other animals , they beef up their own defence mechanism , and can even inflict painful stings on humans .
Image germ : Giphy
The blasphemous dragons are n’t the only ocean slugs to take survival cue from their food . Do n’t occupy , though : this adorable “ leaf sheep , ” also known asCostasiella kuroshimae , wo n’t stick you . Like sheep on a hill , this piddling guy browse on subaqueous plants . Unlike land sheep , however , this slug is able to swipe the chloroplasts from alga it devour . Some evidence hint that it might even beable to photosynthesizewhen fourth dimension get ruffianly .
Image Source:Giphy
Image Source : i.imgur.com
For all their peach and variety ( and they sure are various – this spring alone investigator at the California Academy of Sciences strike more than 40 new variety of nudibranchs during asingle expeditionto the Philippines ) nudibranchs have much to teach us . In California , they have been called a “ stoolpigeon in the tide consortium ” as fond - water species drift northward in answer to climate change .
They may be small and slimy , but the sea slug can clue us into muchbiggerthings plump on in our domain . Plus , unlike the insidious garden pest to which it yield a superficial resemblance , the nudibranch fares much better in common salt water .
Image Source:i.imgur.com
The flossy looking sea bunny , also known asJorunna parva , is a sea slug native to Nipponese waters . Image Source : Giphy
Next , meet the gorgeous blue ocean swig known asGlaucus Atlanticus .
The fluffy looking sea bunny, also known asJorunna parva, is a nudibranch native to Japanese waters. Image Source:Giphy
