C Time: Seeing Small Things

As a member of the Benthic Team, I document what I see along the bottom every 6 inches for a total of 150' at each dive site. This means that I spend most of my time with my head between coral heads and algae, so I miss a lot of the cool fish and what not that may be swimming past me. But one benefit of looking that closely at the bottom is that I get to see a lot of the small things that I would otherwise overlook.

One such creature is the nudibranch. Literally its name means 'Naked Gills' which is appropriate because it breathes through a set of bushy external appendages on its back, sort of like wearing your lungs on your back. Nudibranchs, also sometimes called sea slugs, are a group of shell-less snails that live in all oceans of the world and at almost every depth. They are often very colorful but are easily overlooked because they are usually less than an inch long. They tend to be carnivorous, feeding on sponges, anemones, or other sea slugs and the 'horns' that you see at the front are actually sensory organs used for touch, taste and smell. They defend themselves either by blending into the algae or coral around them or by using bright colors to indicate that they are poisonous. I particularly like them because they're very photogenic and patient for the camera. These are what I've found so far on this trip.