A pyjama nudibranch (Chromodoris quadricolor: 5 cms.) feeding on a fire sponge (Latrunculia magnifica). The common name "pyjama" is used because of the sea slug's striped bands of colour, which serve as a warning to potential predators that it contains toxins and so is poisonous to eat. Unlike the drab appearance of land slugs, their marine cousins are brightly coloured. Indeed, many regard them as the jewels of the sea. The sponge also discourages animals from eating it by locating sharp spicules in its tissues and by producing its own toxin, latruculi. Photographed in the Egyptian Red Sea.

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Size: 3299px × 2479px
Location: Ras Mohammed Reef, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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