Facts: The Dotted Nudibranch

Dotted nudibranchs are large marine sea slugs that have a widely varying geographic distribution in the Indo-Pacific near areas such as South Africa, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The sea slugs are commonly found in seagrass meadows, coral rubble, and coral reefs. The slugs are white with dark circular markings. The circular markings are not fully pigmented and made up of tiny dark spots within the circle. They may exhibit slight variations in color, with the white background sometimes being more cream yellow. The rhinophores, which are sensory organs on their head used to pick up smells in their environment, are black tipped and there is black edging on the white feathery gills on the back of the nudibranch's body. The dotted nudibranch is one of the nudibranch species with the largest distribution worldwide, but there is a lack of information about their life history. They have been observed to feed only on sponges. Adult dotted nudibranchs can vary from around a ½ inch to around 3 inches long. Like all nudibranchs, they are hermaphrodites, possessing both male and female reproductive organs. The reproductive opening is located on the right side, so the animals must position themselves side by side in opposite directions before mating. They lay white, ribbon-like eggs. For more marine facts, click the SUBSCRIBE button!!