Check out the amazing nudibranch (pronouced nood-ei-brank) photographs at National Geographic online.
A variation on a sea slug - technically they aren't sea slugs - their ancestors were snails. You could think of them as emancipated snails who shed the oppression of shells in favour of flamboyance and toxins. Hot damn, they're proud of it! :P
What curiously splendid creatures they are, with such gorgeous colours and baroque shapes. Note how small many of them are. So fantastic if you didn't know they were real you would think an artist dreamed them up and sculpted them in ceramics, or built them in a computer.
My favourites are:
Chromodoris dianae (4th image)
Flabellina exoptata (8th image)
Hypselodoris sp. (2nd of the second white background grouping)
Chromodoris sp. (as featured on Cute Overload aka 'Pimp Slug, McSluggersons' 4th last)
Mexichromis mariei (last)
Read the accompanying NG article here.
See more images, learn more about nudibranches, in the NG video here.
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