Clown of Silt

I usually meet clown nudibranches crawling on rocks or algae so was quite surprised when I met them on the sandy bottom of Mahurangi Harbour for the first time. They didn’t seem to be happy though, I thought they could not get a proper grip on the fine sand / mud so could not fight water movements effectively. If you check the one on the picture you can see the slug is in a strange position, as if it is sliding down the sandy slope.

Keywords: clown doris “clown doris” nudibranch “clown nudibranch” Ceratosoma amoena “Ceratosoma amoena” sand sandy bottom underwater undersea close-up “close up” slug sea “sea slug” gills gill purple white skin orange dot silt silty Pacific ocean temperate