Crawling Beauty - Janolus fuscus

Few groups animals living in the sea can be said to be as diverse and beautiful as the nudibranchs. The name means "naked-gills", and the lovely structures on the back of this species of nudibranch, Janolus fuscus, testify to the exposed nature of the structures that promote breathing. These are not strictly gills (they're called cerata) but gases can exchange directly through the skin on these orange and white tipped structures. On the top of the head is a red stripe, running between two fluted specialized structures clled the rhinophores. The ridges on the rhinophores help the animal to detect chemical smells in the water and help it to find food.

For a concise and revealing teaching video about nudibranchs in the Phylum Mollusca, get our video: Branches on the Tree of Life: Molluscs. The ecology and diversity of seashores is covered by our program, The Biology of Seashores.