I have been sharing some weird and interesting animal stuff the past few days and today I will continue in the same spirit, with a cute little fella that @penderis showed me a couple hours ago.
Meet the sea.. bunny!
Cute right? šš
Scientifically described as Jorunna parva, this is a small nudibranch, 1 cm long in average, that has been reported in Japan, Philippines, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and a few other places.
In case you wonder, the black-and-white ears are actually rhinophores, a type of scent receptor. And as for the tail, it's external gills.
Here's a video if you are curious to see the critter in action:
If you have never heard of nudibranchs before, they are a really cool, often alien like group of sea slugs:
Nudibranchs are re a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage.[ They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, such as "clown", "marigold", "splendid", "dancer", "dragon",[4] or "sea rabbit".Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known. source
A lifetime ago I had made this compilation with some of my favorites. Feel free to check it out.
Alternatively you can just head over to google, type "nudibranch" and click images. I promise you, you will not be disappointed!
Here are a few quick favorites of mine.
First, glaucus atlanticus, commonly known as the blue dragon:
And Goniobranchus geminus
Ok, enough nature oddities for today. Hope this post made your day :)
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