Nudibranchs

Nudibranchs

Idulia spp, Coryphella spp, others

Size: 1/2 " to 4"

Nudibranchs or Sea Slugs are not worms but shell-less gastropod mollusks, related to garden slugs. Their closest relatives here are planktonic Sea Butterflies. Some types of nudibranchs, including those shown here, assimilate the functioning stinging cells of their food, and should not be handled for this reason.

Nudibranchs

Red-Gilled nudibranchs feeding on hydroids, with which they are often found. They grow to 2 inches.

Nudibranchs
Maned Nudibranch - Aeolidia papillosa
Maned Nudibranch

The Maned Nudibranch feeds chiefly on sea anemones, with a preference for the Frilled Anemone. The animal tends to take on the color of the anemones on which it preys. The Maned Nudibranch is 4" long, 1-1/2" wide, thick, and stubby. Its coloration is whitish, gray, or tawny-brown, with pale speckles. The nudibranch's back is covered with hundreds of slender, finger-like projections with a bare area down the midline. It has 2 pairs of antennae on a squarish head and its rear end is tapered to a blunt point.

Maned Nudibranch

White Perch

Morone americana

Size
to 19"
usually 8" - 10 "

The pale olive to silvery green sides of the White Perch lack the dark horizontal stripes present on other temperate basses. White perch also have a narrower tail. The deepest part of the body is at the front of the dorsal fin. On a white bass, the deepest part is near the middle of the back. Known to hybridize with Striped Bass. White Perch are actually members of the Temperate Bass family, not perch at all.

Printed from njscuba.net