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Nudibranchs and friends

Meet the nudibranchs and all their funky sea slug friends that we see on our dives in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Some of them we see on almost every dive, others are more rare and some have even been published as first sightings in this area of the world.

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Common sighting

Green Elysia

Elysia Timida

This little slug feeds on algae, but instead of digesting the algae's chloroplasts, it stores them in its back and uses them to generate energy from sunlight. 

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We mostly see them feeding on algae on shallow rocks where they get lots of sun light. 

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Common sighting

Pink Flabellina

Flabellina Affinis

Pink flabellinas eat venomous hydroids, steal their stinging cells (nematocysts), and transports them safely through their guts to the tips of their cerata where they use them as their own personal defense system.​​

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You'll find these pink divas mostly on deeper dive sites where they sit on hydropolyps.

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Common sighting

Hope's Elysia

Thuridilla Hopei

Much like the Elysia timida, Elysia Hopei also practices kleptoplasty—stealing chloroplasts from algae to harness solar energy directly through its tissues.

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That's why we also find this species mostly on shallow, algae-covered rocks with plenty of sunlight.

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Occasional sighting

Yellow Umbrella Nudibranch

Tylodina Perversa

This innocent-looking thief absorbs the yellow pigments from the sponges it eats for camouflage, then weaponizes their toxins to make itself taste entirely unappealing to predators.​

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These nudis mostly show up when the water gets colder and we can find them anywhere from shallower to deeper depths.

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Occasional sighting

Salt and Pepper Nudibranch

Caloria Elegans

Just like the flabellina, the caloria elegans preys on stinging hydroids and stores their stinging cells in the cerata on its back as a painful defense against predators.​

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This nudibranch almost always sits on orange sponges so keep an eye out for them on rock walls covered in sponges.

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Occasional sighting

Giant Doris

Hypselodoris Picta

Growing up to an impressive 15 cm, the Giant Doris is one of the largest nudibranchs in the Mediterranean. When threatened, it instantly curls its body into a tough, defensive ball while releasing the toxins it "steals" from the sponges it eats.​​

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We mostly see these huge slugs on sponges and on boat dive sites when the water is colder.​​

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Rare sighting

Orsini Nudibranch

Felimare Orsinii

This slug warns predators with its bright colors to stay away. It feeds on sponges and stores their toxic compounds in specialized mantle glands which make it taste terrible. 

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Rare sighting

Facelina Rubrovittata

Facelina Rubrovittata

This nudibranch is another one whose hobby it is to eat hydroids and steal their stinging cells for its own defense against predators.

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Rare sighting

Ghost Aeolid

Paraflabellina Gabinierei

This nudibranch is another one who's hobby is eating hydroids and stealing their stinging cells for its own defense against predators. ​

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First sighting in the Mediterranean Sea 

Elysia Furvacauda

Elysia Furvacauda

This solar-powered alien species originates from the Indo-Pacific and was first spotted and recorded in the Mediterranean Sea by one of our in-house marine biologists Alexandra Slater in 2025.  ​

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Rarer sighting

Lined Trapania

Trapania Lineata

This microscopic hunter detects and hunts down tiny, stalked colonial animals called entoprocts that grow hidden among sponges on the reef.​

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Rare sighting

Ghost Nudibranch

Melibe Engeli

Melibe engeli is a small, transparent sea slug  known for its ghost-like appearance and unique hunting style. It uses a large, expandable oral hood like a throw-net to catch tiny swimming crustaceans, as well as hosting photosynthetic algae inside its body—earning it the nickname "solar-powered".

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Occasional sighting

Pilgrim Hervia

Cratena Peregrina

Like many of it's relatives, the pilgrim hervia practices cleptoplasty, meaning it stores the stinging cells of its food inside its own body to use as a shield against predators.​

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Occasional sighting

Pink Coryphella

Edmundsella Pedata

This nudibranch not only repurposes its food's stinging cells as a defense against predators, it also pratices "cellular recycling", meaning it distributes nutrients from its special diet into its otherwise translucent body tissues to get its brilliant coloration.

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First sighting in the Hellenic Seas

Philinopsis Speciosa

Philinopsis Speciosa

Philinopsis speciosa uses a rapid vacuum-pharynx to swallow prey whole and a chemical slime-tracking radar to hunt other sea slugs. Its first recorded presence in the Hellenic Seas was documented by our staff instructor Sabrina Winkel in 2025.

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Classification of Sea Slugs

If you want to see nudibranchs during your dives, you probably mean any of the sea slugs you see above. However, the term "nudibranch" only refers to a subgroup of sea slugs. 

 

"Nudibranch" directly translates to naked gills, coming from their visible external gills, which are often located on the dorsal side of the animals and are used for respiration.

 

While the other sea slugs we see on our dives are equally cute, they fall under different subgroups of sea slugs, such as sacoglassas,  tylodinoideas or anaspideas.

May is
Nudibranch Month

May is the ultimate time of year to dive Plakias for nudibranch enthusiasts. The spring bloom brings out an incredible variety of sea slugs, and we actually record more species then than at any other time of the year—including several rare finds and first-ever area sightings published in marine records.

 

With the summer crowds still months away, peaceful sites like Shinaria and Paligremnos offer macro photographers and ocean lovers an uncrowded paradise to spot rare, dazzling species in their peak breeding season—making it an amazing time to get in the water and see what's out there.​

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Publications

2025

Slater A. et al.

'First record of the alien Elysia furvacauda Burns 1958, (Sacoglossa: Elysiidae) for the Mediterranean Sea, and some other heterobranchia for Greece,' Xenophora Taxonomy, 48(8). Available online at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/395795599_First_record_of_the_alien_Elysia_furvacauda_8.

2025

Winkel, S. et al.

'First record of the alien Philinopsis speciosa Pease, 1860 (Opisthobranchia: Aglajidae) for the Hellenic Seas', Xenophora Taxonomy, 46(1). Available online at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388447476_First_record_of_the_alien_Philinopsis_speciosa_Pease_1860_8 

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Want to identify sea slugs on your next dive?

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