Reader Rick Mark sends us some photos of colorful nudibranches, which are shell-less gastropod mollusks. Rick notes that he loves nature photography, including birds and wildflowers (he produced a guide to wildflowers in an Indiana nature preserve as part of his master’s thesis).
I’m sending some photos of the bizarre life found in tide pools on the Oregon coast. I don’t think I’ve seen these represented in any of your wildlife photo contributions so far.These are nudibranchs, which are sometimes called sea slug. I’m not really sure of the species identification, but I’ll take a shot.A young friend of mine who is enthralled with marine biology told me that one reason he finds marine life so interesting is that species evolution in water is less restricted than it is on land. Since sea creatures just float, they can evolve a multitude of ways to locomote, so to speak. I’d guess that each of these critters is about 1 to 2 inches long (3-6 cm)Bi-colored nudibranch (Janolus fuscus)
Sea lemon nudibranch or dorid (possibly Anisodoris nobilis) Wikipedia says: Sea lemon is a loosely-applied common name for a group of medium-sized to large shell-less colorful sea slugs or nudibranchs, specifically dorid nudibranchs in the taxonomic family Dorididae and other closely related families.
Nanaimo dorid (Acanthodoris nanaimoensis) seen from the side:
Nanaimo dorid (Acanthodoris nanaimoensis) seen from above:
Opalescent nudibranch (Hermissenda crassicornis) (may be up to 3″ in length)
Ring-spotted dorid or leopard nudibranch (?) (possibly Diaulula sandiegensis) [JAC: It doesn’t resemble the species that goes by that name.]
They really are bootiful.
this is absolutely stunning!
I had a dream about The Blob last night (not the film, but the creature from the film, which was the thing under my bed when I was a tot). How interesting to wake to photos of magnificent boneless creatures.
Very unique pictures today. I miss my years in San Diego and visiting the local tide pools. The sea lemon and opalescent nudibranchs were pretty common, as were the aptly named sea hares which are another kind of shell-less mollusc. Some of those were the size of footballs.
“species evolution in water is less restricted than it is on land. Since sea creatures just float, they can evolve a multitude of ways to locomote, so to speak”.
An interesting comment but it cannot be true in all senses since – as I understand it – biodiversity on land is many times greater than that in the oceans despite the fact that the latter occupy much more space.
It is true that certain constraints on body form are absent or much weaker in the oceans than on land. For example it is possible for invertebrates to achieve much larger body sizes in the marine environment. A terrestrial invertebrate of similar dimensions as a Japanese Spider Crab (i.e. several metres across) would be hopelessly pinned down by its own weight and unable to move at all.
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I totally recognize the critter in the bottom picture. Unfortunately, I recognize it from decades ago and can’t put it in the correct context. It’s actually making me kind of crazy.
But, his shots are great. I try for those kind but fail rather spectacularly. I have a decent shot of a sea urchin is the best I’ve been able to do.
My insanity aside, I think it’s very likely a Slimy Doris (Dendrodoris krebsii)
Thanks, everyone. Glad you like the nudi photos.
On that last one, maybe it’s this?
Discodoris sandiegensis
https://depts.washington.edu/fhl/zoo432/cattlepoint/432pagemill/432cat.html
I looked up KGW’s suggested Dendrodoris krebsii, but that doesn’t look right to me either.
A note on the opalescent – I said they get up to 3″. No way. Maybe 2″ at most. But they’re spectacular nonetheless:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermissenda_crassicornis
A word on the danger of using Google images to identify species. If you search for “ring-spotted dorid” and click on images, you get a wide variety of photos – including my photo above, which Jerry graciously posted for us today and which has never been online before. So you can confirm my probably incorrect identification of this species by searching for it on Google and finding the same picture. Error amplification?
That’s why Google’s thinking about fact-checking algorithms. Get your nudis wrong, and they’ll assume you’re a birther. Something like that.
Awesome pictures. I love that opalescent nudibranch – looks like something you would find at the bottom of the ocean.
I love these. Thank you.
Diaulula = new genus name for Discodoris sandiegensis, same species; they are often dark mike the photos not pale like the Wikipedia page. Great photos thanks for sharing.
Nudibranches are so pretty looking. Like fancy sea slugs!
I’ve always been an admirer of nudibranches. Did you see all these during one trip, at one locale, or? I’ve seen nudibranches in tide pools here and there, but for me they were always uncommon, and I’ve never seen (in the wild) the variety you show here. Thanks for the unique offering!
1. Bi-colored – June 2006 at the fantastic Salt Creek tide pools west of Port Angeles WA on the Olympic Peninsula, about 6 hours north of me (maybe 2 hours from Seattle)
2. Sea lemon – July 2014 at the Roads End Beach, Lincoln City OR (about 2 miles from where I live)
3. & 4. Nanaimo dorid and 5. Opalescent – all taken on the same very lucky day in May 2013, also at the Roads End tide pools (this is the only time I’ve ever seen the pink-spotted Nanaimo dorid)
6. The spotted dorid? – July 2010 at Seal Rock OR, about 30 miles south of where I live.
Thanks – really – for all of the very nice and gratifying comments. I’ll send some more tide pool photos, in case JAC wants to use them sometime.
The fact that these were all taken between May and July has less to do with the actual season (I think) and more to do with a phenomenon that I don’t understand. Those are the months when the Pacific Northwest sees the lowest tides of the year. When that happens, we get to explore areas that are under water the rest of the year and we find creatures that we don’t normally see.
Thanks for all the extra info. Not surprising that these pics took a while to accumulate and become a grouping. Really terrific diligence and lucky finds imo.
Re. your later post, yeah, tropical species always trump cold ones as tropical plethora proves to be 10 fold in color and shape. Thanks again for showing off some of our Northwest gems.
http://www.nudibranch.com.au/pages1/common.htm
Just FYI, the nudies I find on the Oregon coast almost literally pale in comparison to what you find elsewhere – like Australia.