On land, slugs are not generally celebrated for their beauty. Sea slugs, however, are regarded by those who know them as the jewels of the sea. They are called nudibranchs, because they have naked gills, and come in a variety of bright colours. Their striking appearance serves as a warning to potential predators that they are poisonous to eat. I encountered this individual of the species Pteraeolidia lanthina (8 cms.) in Lembeh Straits, northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its striking body shape reminds many people of a mythical Chinese dragon; the common name of the species is dragon nudibranch.

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Size: 2908px × 1584px
Location: Lembeh Straits. Sulawesi, Indonesia
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, chinese, coral, creation, diving, dragon, indonesia, jewels, lanthina, lembeh, life, marine, natural, nudibranch, picture, poisonous, pteraeolidia, reef, scuba, sea, selection, slug, straits, sulawesi, trd5143, underwater