Nudibranch – Pokemon of the sea

I have never met a scuba diver who didn’t like nudibranchs! These colourful, wriggly creatures are part of the Nudibranchia family, a soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which do not have shells. I had a friend describe them as flowers of the sea (though they are animals, not plants!) as they come in all sorts of bright colours. Another friend described them as Pokemon of the Sas there are so many different types.

In fact, there are over 2,300 different types of Nudibranch. Most live in warm tropical waters, close to the equator, though some species can be found in cooler waters, even as far south as Sydney in Australia.

I have done scuba diving all over Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and always see nudibranch each time I go diving. You see some very common nudibranch in most tropical areas, like the Pimpled Phyllidiella Nudibranch or the Sky Blue Phullidia Dorid Nudibranch (both pictured below), though every now and then you see a very unique and elobarate nudibranch.

One of the prettiest nudibranchs I have seen recently off the Gili Islands Lombok is the Dark Margin Glossodoris Nudibranch. I saw this one swimming, almost flying through the water as it flapped itself through the water.

Here are some more pics of the different Nudibranch:

If anyone can help identify this last Nudibranch it would be great appreciated. Leave a comment below or send an email from the contact us link.