Max Size: ~1.5 cm
Habitat: Western Atlantic Ocean
Diet: The striped nudibranch is known to eat hydrozoids (jellyfish and jellyfish like animals)
Fun Facts:
- Nudibranchs (which means naked gills in Latin) get their name from their unique body plan compared to other gastropods (snails and slugs). Nudibranchs shed their shell after their larval stage, leaving their gills exposed
- Species of nudibranchs that eat jellyfish can store consumed nematocysts (stinging cells) in order to use them for their own defense
- Many nudibranchs make use of the defense strategy of aposematism. Similar to poison dart frogs, many nudibranchs have striking colors that make them stand out in their environment, signaling to predators that they may be poisonous or otherwise not worth attacking