Where to go for nudibranchs?

[naimis]

They are there, you just have to know where to look for them. The caribbean nudi's tend to be smaller. I have seen them all over the caribbean, now that I know what I am looking for. The best thing you can do is learn about their behavior and habitats. A great book for that is Caribbean Sea Slugs. I use it as a reference a lot.

Are sea slugs nudibranchs? Or is the opposite true? I have one photo of a sea slug that I took on my last trip to Cozumel, but I didn't think they were really related except at a ... er .. higher classification level? It's been many years since sixth grade biology

But I figured they were both gastropods but unrelated beyond that.

anyway, not the best shot in the world (I'm still very much an amateur), but here goes:

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

I have a few customers who are live to photograph nudibranchs. cali is good, but if you want warm water, I hear the Philippines are fantastic.

 

[fisheyeview]

Are sea slugs nudibranchs? Or is the opposite true? I have one photo of a sea slug that I took on my last trip to Cozumel, but I didn't think they were really related except at a ... er .. higher classification level? It's been many years since sixth grade biology

But I figured they were both gastropods but unrelated beyond that.

anyway, not the best shot in the world (I'm still very much an amateur), but here goes:

Nudibranchs & Sea Slugs are seperate orders of Opisthobranchia which is itself a subclass of Gastropoda. They are both shell-less snails. Other orders of Opisthobranchia are Headshield Slugs, Sea Hares & Sidegill Slugs.

The nudibranch you attached is a Mexichromis kempfi. It was originally classified as Chromodoris kempfi. The common name is Purple-Crowned Sea Goddess.

Nice shot.

 

[fuggler]

I think I saw at least 10 different nudibranchs on one dive in Verde Island, Philippines. Someone on the Philippine board shared an excerpt from a book called INDO-PACIFIC NUDIBRANCHS AND SEA SLUGS - A Field guide to the World's most diverse fauna, and the author says:

".....Within the Coral Triangle recent studies (Carpenter & Springer 2005) have demonstrated the greatest diversity of shore-fishes has been found in the area known as the Verde Island Passage (the waters between Luzon and Mindoro Island, in the northern Philippine Archipelago). The same is true for nudibranchs and their relatives. In the "Anilao" area which includes the municipality of Mabini, the offshore communities of Tingloy and the area around Puerto Galera in northern Mindoro we have now found more than 640 species of opisthobranch! This area is truly the Center of the Center of Marine Diversity or the Apex of the Coral Triangle."

So, if you want to do a local trip, go to California and you'll see 29083290832 lemon nudis and spanish shawls. If you want a crazier variety, try the Philippines.

 

[Mariozi]

Nudibranchs have been one of my favorite photo subjects since my first big dive trip to Maui, but I haven't had much luck finding any since then.

I've been to Cozumel repeatedly, and haven't seen a single one (though on the last trip I found a lot of cowries), nor did I spot any in the Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico, nor could I find any in Roatan, Honduras.

Are there any "hot spots" of nudibranch populations?

Red Sea is OK...

 

[elanarchist]

I have a nudibranch fetish. Here's a set of just some of the nudis I shot over the last two months in Sogod Bay, S. Leyte.. we've been finding many new ones.. Nudibranches - a set on Flickr

 

[StevenN]

So, if you want to do a local trip, go to California and you'll see 29083290832 lemon nudis and spanish shawls.

That's true but still I never get tired of seeing them. I must have a thing about those little critters too.

 

[Larry C]

Yeah, but I'll take tiny nudis as a trade off for warmer water.

Yeah, but in cold water, the nudis are big and everything else is tiny

 

[Wisnu]

Long flight but you'll not be disappointed with Lembeh Strait particularly at sites Nudi fall and nudi retreat. We saw hundreds nudi and faltworm from more than 2 dozens species in just 2 dives 3 weeks ago. Check my daughter blog at my signature, you'll see some of them.

At Lembeh, other than nudi - you'll see other bizarre critters such as weedy scorpionfish, lacey scorpionfish, waspfish, mimic octopus, blue ringed octopus, wonderpus, hairy frogfish, giant frogfish, mandarinfish, pigmysea horses, orangutan crab, kingkong crab, boxer crab, decorator crabs, spider crab, electric clam, snake eels, reptilian eel, sea moth, flying gunnard, various pufferfish, banggai cardinalfish and many more that I can't remember- all we saw in 5 diving days in Lembeh.
Easy diving, warm water, practically no or just mild current - so easy to take pictures althoug viz not excelent (15 - 40 ft); relatively shallow, so most of dives more than 1 hours.
Lembeh is truly macro heaven.

 

[bvanant]

For those of you with a desire to see some cool pics, learn some more about them and some tips on how to shoot them take a look at
Nudibranchs|Underwater Photography Guide
Scott has done a good job in putting this together so take a look.
Bill