Freaks of Nature Thursdays: Sea Slugs

So the last couple of Freaks installations have been pretty creepy (we’re talking about you blob fish!) so we decided to show you that sometime things that should be creepy (i.e. sea slugs) can be pretty damn cute. Don’t like the sound of slugs? Well take a meander through our long list of eligible participants and we’re sure we’ll be able to change your mind. First up, bachelor number one; the little guy in the picture above. He’s called Nembrotha cristata or, as he’s commonly known, the alpaca of the sea. Here’s another variety of aqua alpacas which are just as cute.

Green living alpaca of the sea

Photograph by David Doubilet

While the alpacas of the sea are really cute, sea slugs come in something a little sleeker too. Check out Glaucus Atlanticus who likes lazy Sunday afternoons and floating on its back in tropical waters.

Green living Nudiranchia

Photo from the Sydney Museum.

If the Nudiranchia is a little too flashy for you, perhaps you will like the shy little chromodoris splendida, endemic to New South Wales, Australia, the splendida adds a little pizzazz to every undersea experience.

Green living Splendida

Picture by Jason Shelley

And last, but certainly not least… Flabellina Iodinea which inhabits the cooler waters from the Galapagos to our own British Columbia. Flabellina is the wild stallion of sea slugs and is the bad boy every sluggette loves.