Rare Nudibranch! Two Citizen Scientists find Cerberilla pungoarena in the Morro Bay Estuary

Cerberilla pungoarena in Morro Bay. Copyright passiflora4, Laura Schachterle and Thomas Hintz.

Cerberilla pungoarena (Collier & Farmer, 1964) is one of those rare nudibranchs you may never see: only a few subtidal specimens have been reported since the mid-2000s. But now, fifteen years later and further north than they have ever been seen before, a single specimen of C. pungoarena was spotted and photographed a few months ago in shallow water in the Morro Bay Estuary by two intrepid nudibranch enthusiasts, Laura Schachterle and Thomas Hintz. Nudibranchs are shell-less marine molluscs commonly called sea slugs. There are over 130 species of nudibranchs found in California, many brightly-colored. “Great find and …

Sea Clowning Around: Triopha maculata and Triopha catalinae, by Robin Agarwal

December 13, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program anudibranchmom belly biology estuary program iNaturalist morro bay morro bay national estuary program morro bay nudibranch nudibranch Robin Agarwal Sea Clowns sea slug sea slugs in Morro Bay Spotted Triopha T. catalinae T. maculata tidepooling etiquette tidepooling in Morro Bay Triopha catalinae Triopha maculata Blog Posts Sea Slug of the Month Wildlife spotlight

Triopha Maculata Sun Salutation, photographed in Santa Cruz, CA by Robin Agarwal

Spotted Triopha or Triopha maculata One of the most charming creatures found along the Central California coast is the Spotted Triopha nudibranch (Triopha maculata). With its colorful body, white polka dots, and bushy “beard”—properly called papillae—on the edge of its oral veil, this engaging sea slug is one of the most common you’ll encounter year-round, either on a dive or during a casual inspection of tidepools at low tide. Triopha maculata color variants The only minor difficulty is realizing that you’re looking at one. Spotted Triophas come in at least two color variants that caused even veteran scientists to …

The “Smalls”: The Teeniest, Tiniest Sea Slugs In California

October 11, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program aeolids anudibranchmom dotos eubranchus MBNEP morro bay morro bay national estuary program nudibranch Robin Agarwal sea slugs Blog Posts Guest post Sea Slug of the Month Wildlife spotlight

Guest post by Robin Agarwal This is the fourth post in our Sea Slug of the Month series. Find tips for spotting nudibranchs from the comfort of your local dock at the end of this post! So you’ve been tidepooling along your local reefs and you’ve found a few nudibranchs: Opalescents, Sea Lemons, Spanish Shawls, Hopkins’s Rose, Triophas. Maybe you’ve practically tripped over ginormous squishy Sea Hares. Boring, right? What a snooze, all those flamboyant colors, shapes, and bizarre anatomy. After all, those nudibranchs are over an inch long, and therefore way too easy to find. If this is …

Sea Slug of the Month – Yellow Blobs of Awesomeness, Guest Post by Robin Agarwal

August 9, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program a nudibranch mom anudibranchmom California tidepool central coast dorid guest post nudibranch Robin Agarwal sea slug sea slug of the month seaslug tidepool wildlife spotlight Guest post Sea Slug of the Month Wildlife spotlight

Yellow Blobs of Awesomeness: Sea Goddesses, Sea Lemons and That One with the Tentacles Guest post by Robin Agarwal Humans like sea slugs. They’re harmless to humans, but voracious predators if you’re a hydroid or a sponge. They come in a variety of cool shapes and sizes, and have fascinating life histories that allow one to throw around words like ‘nudi’ and ‘hermaphrodite’ with impunity in mixed company. But best of all, nudibranchs appeal mightily to humans’ attraction to pattern and color. We cannot resist taking a closer look at something bright and colorful as we explore …

Sea Slug of the Month – Morro Bay’s ‘Gateway Nudi:’ Opalescent Nudibranch, Guest Post by Robin Agarwal

July 12, 2019 Posted by Morro Bay National Estuary Program a nudibranch mom Ángel Valdés anudibranchmom Austin L. Ka’ala Estores-Pacheco Hermissenda Hermissenda crassicornis Hermissenda opalescens iNaturalist nudibranch Robin Agarwal sea slug sea slug of the month seaslug Blog Posts Guest post Sea Slug of the Month Wildlife spotlight

Three Opalescent Nudibranchs (Hermissenda opalescens). Photograph courtesy of Robin Agarwal via Flickr Creative Commons License

“Whoaaaa…what is THAT?” “It’s gorgeous, whatever it is.” “It’s moving!” “Dude, check this out!” “So BLUE!” “What IS it?” Music to a science educator’s ears, of course, thanks to the astonishing colors and reasonably viewable size of one of California’s most iconic sea slug species, the Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda opalescens). Found throughout the Central California coast, these brightly-colored carnivores are often the first nudibranchs to astonish and delight the humans venturing into their intertidal world during seasonal low tides. Photograph of Opalescent nudibranch, (Hermissenda opalescens) taken in Monterey, California. Courtesy of Robin Agarwal, under Creative Commons license via …