#melibe

WOWWWW!!!!

ambling down digital memory lane, & found a holy grail rabbithole of old uni marine invertebrate biology lab photos...

drew out some ocs, along with a peek into the past and a smaller secondary ref for two of the chars and someone a bit peculiar 

You can find a crochet hooded nudibranch here! I think they would make great gifts for marine biologists or scuba divers. 

1️⃣📷: Michelle Manson 3️⃣📷: Michael Alyono

Given its translucent nature, the Hooded Nudibranch is often mistaken for a jelly, but it is simply swimming in search of the next perch from which to gain a meal. #podcast #listen #learn #nudibranch #science #scuba #diving #alaska #ocean #audio #education #conservation #melibe #explore #nature #lindbladexpeditions #natgeo #adventure #travel #podernfamily

Name: Melibe leonina My personal name: Dinosaur slug Location: West coast of North America from Alaska to Baja California Size: ~3.5-15 cm long (HUGE babies!! I love, Love, LOVE them!!!) Li'l tentacles: In the pictures above you may notice tiny tentacle things in its oral hood; these are its sensory papillae, used to detect when prey are near, and tell M. leonina to close its oral hood and trap the prey >:) Brainssss: In photo #4 you can see a small, orange blob; this is its nerve ganglia, in other words, this can be considered the slugs brain!! (A hot body and a big brain, what more could you ask for in a partner ;) ) Diet: small crustacea, such as crabs, shrimps, copepods, amphipods. On top of that, sometimes they reach their head out for extended periods and eat any plankton unfortunate enough to pass by in the water current (they have no teeth but they still catch and eat solid food!! And unlike most slugs, they have such a colorful diet!!! Aaaaaaaaa!! I'm so proud of them!!!!!) When to find: Seasonally found in large groups, often on kelp or sort of swimming more floating down for extended periods Nyoom: M. leonina "swims" by completely flattening its body, and it bends it's body to get the power to move. Along with bending its body to control its swimming, it also uses the water's current to guide its travels (A wonderful adventurer! Yay!!!) Cerata power: The cerata (the large, flat things on its back) can be considered gills since they add to the slugs surface area and aid with breathing Don't hurt me: If attacked, M. leonina is able to detach its cerata in order to get away (lol, like the lizard of the sea) but don't worry, once detached, the cerata are able to grow back! And even though the cerata aid with breathing, losing them does not kill the slug! The ability to drop certain body parts is called ~autotomy~ What's that smell: If you ever found yourself in the same room as a tank of M. leonina, you would notice a distinct fruity aroma, often described as being similar to the smell of watermelon! Life cycle: After eggs have been layed, it's takes about 10 days for the slug larvae to catch. 30-59 days later, the big change comes. M. leonina is born looking more like a plankton than a slug, including the fact that it swims rather than crawls. Its diet at this stage is phytoplankton (microscopic plants). Now it's time for M. leonina to metamorphose into an actual slug. Sure, caterpillars changing into butterflies is cool, but the sea slug's transformation?? M. leonina needs to change both its shape AND its entire digestive system, since up into now it only ate tiny plants. It's like the opposite of a hippie, instead of becoming vegetarian, M. leonina is becoming a carnivore! The next 12-20 hours are full of hard work. It drops its shell, and then focuses all its energy on growing its very own oral hood along with its first set of cerata! 2.5 days later, the oral hood is developed enough to catch M. leonina it's first taste of m e a t! Of course, the newly developed oral hood is still smol, so until it gets the hang of being a slug, M. leonina sticks to microscopic one-celled ciliated animals rather than its usual diet. As a young slug M. leonina will hold its oral hood right above the sea floor and move along looking for food, while an adult will hold its oral hood out into the open water, waiting for prey to pass by in the water current.

oops forgot to post this little doodle too, full body shapes for these folks