Nudibranchs Tishana Lawhorne

Nudribranchia Their scientific name, Nudibranchia, means naked gills, and describes the feathery gills and horns that most wear on their backs. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Order: Opisthobranchia Suborder: Nudibranchia

Image Is Everything Nudibranchs are colorful little animals. They come in lots of different shapes and sizes. Some nudibranchs are yellow, some are orange and some are yellow with dark brown blotches. Nudibranchs are usually small. They can grow from less than half an inch to almost two feet. Spotted nudibranchs and clown nudibranchs grow up to eight centimeters long, but the sea lemon can, very rarely, grow up to twenty inches long. Some have two horned tentacles (rhinophores) on their head, others a feathery gills on their back, most are brightly colored though some blend into their environment.

Home Sweet Home Nudibranchs can live in all depths of salt water, but reach their greatest size and variation in warm, shallow waters.

I’m A Carnivore ! Nudibranchs are carnivorous, meaning that they eat other small animals. As they glide around, they feed on all sorts of creatures (hydroids, tunicates, sponges, anemones, and barnacles. Sometimes they will even eat other nudibranchs. They have a hard, toothed feeding structure called a radula inside their mouth that helps them crunch up food. Often they take on the color of their preferred prey, such as brightly colored sponges.

Let’s Talk ‘Bout Sex Bay-Bee! Nudibranchs have both male and female reproductive organs. Even though they do, they rarely fertilize themselves.

| speCial aDaptatiOns | They store the toxins eaten in their own bodies and then use it as a defense mechanism to fight off predators. Nudibranchs can change color to blend in with their prey and to hide from predators.

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