juvenile sea cucumber or holothurian, Pearsonothuria graeffei, previously Bohadschia graeffei.

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This cucumber radically changes it s appearance as it grows As a form of defence this little cucumber mimics several nudibranchs especially Phyllidia coelestis and Phyllidia varicosa The nudibranchs are distasteful to fish Once the cucumber exceeds the maximum size of the nudibranch it begins to alter it s appearance to the adult form

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Size: 5400px × 3600px
Location: Uepi Island, Solomon Islands. Solomon Sea, Pacific Ocean
Photo credit: © cbimages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, behaviour, bohadschia, buchanan, carol, cucumber, defence, graeffei, holothurian, life, marine, mimic, mimicry, mimics, ocean, pearsonothuria, reef, sea, sea-cucumber, tropical, uepi, underwater