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Project Noah Nature School
Glaucus marginatus
Tiny blue nudibranch with a 'wingspan' of under 1cm. The blue colours are actually on the ventral surface, as these creatures float upside down in the ocean using the 'foot' along the centre of their belly to hold the surface tension.
The Pacific Ocean. We found this one washed up on Yaroomba beach.
Not a great deal seems to be known about these tiny sea slugs, except that they eat bits of hydrozoans such as Portuguese Men o' War (blue bottles) and Porpita porpita (blue buttons) and store the stingers in their 'cereta' (the finger-like protusions along the side of their body). I think they're really cute. This series shows one in a variety of poses... in the second one you can see how small it is (check out the grains of sand around it on the surface of the water!) and the fourth one shows it flipped onto its front as the water goes out.
Spotted on Jan 8, 2015
Submitted on Jan 10, 2015
31 Comments (1–25)
Hi ShannaB, These blue nudibranch photos are amazing! Be terrific to see some of your most recent discoveries here on Project Noah!
I suspected this one was a winner! Well Done, Shanna!
Indeed a beauty..congrats!
Such good shots.. cobgrats.
Thanks Lisa & Christiane!
Congratulation Shanna.. I so hoe I can find one of these one day!
Congrats ShannaB, your beautiful alien-like Blue Nudibranch placed 2nd in the "other" category for the Best of 2015! Here is the link for the '2016 Best Wildlife Photo mission so you can add more fantastic spottings for this year! http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/2004...
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Thanks Ashley! Jim, Albert is right - we found these washed up on the beach. We scooped out a hollow in the sand so we could see these guys floating, and I took the photo from above. They are absolutely tiny - in the second shot you can see the grains of sand floating on the surface of the water.
All this time, I have been looking in the wrong places.
@JimNelson, its more likely you will see this Nudibranch at the beach than when scuba diving.
Shanna...I have spent many years diving, and have never seen this one. Underwater macro sometimes takes time and patience. Great job on this one!
Love this little cutie.. :)
Congrats Shanna, your unique Nudibranch has made the top 10 other spottings in the '2015 Best Wildlife Photo' mission! Rangers are voting on the top 10 other spottings, and the top 3 will be announced on February 7th. The top 3 spottings will be commented on here on the site, but make sure you keep a look out on our Facebook app page for the announcement as well! Congratulations on making the top 10! https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah
BEAUTIFUL!!!
Congrats Shanna... great spotting...
WOW.. Congrats Shanna. Great spotting..
Congrats Shanna!
One of my favourite creatures. Great shots Shanna and a well deserved SOTD. Congratulations !
Congratulations, Shanna. This is a wonderful spotting. Awesome photos and info too.
Stunning SOTD Shanna .. congratulations! Great set of images. The wings in image 4 look like a pair of feet :)
Congrats. I'd love to find one of these little beauties.
Yet another great sea slug shanna! Congrats
Exquisite and well deserved SOTD Shanna
Thank you, Yasser!
Shanna, this spectacular sea slug is our Spotting of the Day! Thanks for sharing this incredible series with us and we look forward to a wonderful and wild 2015 filled with lots of awesome spottings, just like this one. Happy New Year and Congrats again!
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