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Costasiella kuroshimae
This tiny Nudibranch, varying from 1 - 5 mm in sizes are fondly called, Shaun the Sheep Nudibranch. They are usually found on the algae, which is their food source. The algae looks like a small green leaf, usually around 2 - 2.5 cm in diameter, found in shallow waters in sandy bottom. This tiny Nudibranch has a lot of tiny details on them, besides colours but due to their size of 1 - 5 mm, those details are hardly visible to the naked eyes. Pic#1 shows an individual around 3-4 mm in size. Pic#2 shows the algae they can be found on, and on that single algae leaf, there are at least 8 of them, ranging from 1-5 mm in size.
Spotted on Jul 17, 2017
Submitted on Aug 4, 2017
9 Comments
Thanks, @Lisa for your appreciation :)
I love Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep! I also love this adorable spotting! Thanks for sharing the wonderful and amazing creatures that can be found under the sea. <3
Thanks, @doreen for your appreciation and ability to see the cuteness in it :)
That is quite cute when you really look at it!
Thanks, @flowntheloop for the additional info :)
I'll post another similar species, from the same genus in a bit :D
@AlbertKang Shaun the Sheep is an animated film that is a spinoff of Wallace & Gromit--and the face-like features of this nudibranch look exactly like the leading character, Shaun! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_the_...
Thanks, @Daniele and @flowntheloop for your appreciation :)
The Common Name was given by photographers who posted it to various forums and labelled it as Shaun the Sheep, as it supposedly resemble a Sheep? lol
It is now also used for other Costasiella species, which are generally quite similar in size.
And yes, @Daniele, it is a big challenge to take good pics of them. The close-up photo of it is highly cropped. Most serious underwater macro photographers are using dSLR cameras with high magnification diopters and they do get very sharp and nice details.
Fantastic! The name really suits it too!
Who gets to name these?! Wonderful :-) I loved discovering all your latest tiny nudibranches Albert. A challenge to photograph that size underwater!