#dendronotus iris

giant nudibranch (dendronotus iris) | source

0:00 - Dendronotus iris, the giant nudibranch - first shown up close to show off its highly branched cerata, and then seen swimming. 0:22 - A harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardii, swimming around the light while it hunts fish. 0:39 - Shrimp and fish circling the light. 1:08 - A squid jets by 1:12 - thousands of long thin larval fish school around the light 1:20 - A large cross jellyfish, Mitrocoma cellularia, pulses its bell to swim, fanning out its many fine tentacles 1:30 - many small fish swarm the pale blue light, blotting out portions of it 1:52 - a long yellow polychaete worm dances and weaves through the water column 2:04 - the crystal jellyfish, Aequorea victoria, swims with an incredible amount of Pleurobrachia bachei ctenophores and other animals in the background and then we zoom past to see more ctenophores. 2:18 - an egg yolk jelly, Phacellophora camtschatica swims by in deep blue water 2:30 - a nudibranch with long narrow cerata, Cumanotus sp., swims by swinging its body back and forth, whipping its cerata around. 2:43 - a sea gooseberry, Pleurobrachia bachei, spins through its fanned out tentacles in a gorgeous dance 2:57 - a small hydrozoan jelly with a yellow mouth and dots around its bell, Proboscidactyla flavicirrata, bounces, pulses, and then turns to the side showing off its branched radial canals 3:11 - a sea gooseberry, Pleurobrachia bachei, spins and casts rainbows with its ctenes, mouth up to the camera 3:21 - an odd gregarious jelly, Clytia gregaria, with an extra radial canal giving it a star shaped mouth, swims in the dark 3:27 - outro card "Thanks for Watching" with instagram, facebook, and bluesky icons and the handle ‪@NonCompliantCyborg‬

Eubranchus rustyus likes to dine on Plumularia.

With friends like these, who needs anemones?

The Dendronotus iris is often called the Giant nudibranch, and for good reason. This nudibranch can grow to a whopping 30cm in length! It lives in muddy subtidal areas from northern Alaska to northern Mexico, at most 200m below the surface. Like many other nudibranchs, the Giant nudibranch has a very specific diet- it feeds solely on the tendrils of the tube-dwelling anemone (as seen in the picture). Funnily enough, the anemones sometimes pull the nudibranch into their tube when they try to hide, although no one seems to be harmed in the process.

📷: While most nudibranch eggs range in color from white to pale yellow, the eggs of a spanish shawl nudibranch (Flabellina iodinea) are a brilliant pink! Spotted by JR Sosky.

UPDATE! Hey everyone! Sorry for the confusion! Here’s more info to explain what’s going on: The anemone retreats once it feels the pinch of the barber slug’s bite. Latching on, the slug is pulled in with the anemone, not wanting to let go of its meal. Once the slug snips off a tentacle or two, it pulls itself back out of the tube and moves on to the next anemone spaghetti dish, while the anemone waits for the coast to clear before coming back out from its tube.

- Earl Felton