An incredibly rare sea sluggard recently grace British amnionic fluid asBabakina anadoni , arguably the most technicolor ocean slug in the earth , made an coming into court off the glide of the Isles of Scilly . It ’s the first meter the species has been consider in the UK , say theCornwall Wildlife Trust(CWT ) , and it ’s a hella fancy .
The sea clout was descry by Allen Murray , a volunteer for CWT’sSeasearch Divingproject which drive to read marine habitats and species chance in UK waters and use the information to identify sites of specific conservation concern . Murray ’s sighting is all the more remarkable in the context that , while very blazing in its color , the rainbow sea slug is but a tiny noggin .
“ It ’s one of the pretty sea slug I ’ve seen and , contribute its less than half the size of your little finger , it ’s awe-inspiring Allen spot it at all ! ” said Matt Slater , Marine Conservation Officer at CWT and coordinator of the Seasearch Diving projection for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly , in a release netmail to IFLScience .
The colorful sea slug with an anemone pal. Image courtesy of Allen Murray
“ There ’s still so much out there that we do n’t know about our maritime environment . record like this from our Seasearch divers are vital in helping us understand and well protect our seas . ”
As a sea slug , B. anadonisits within the nudibranchs , which are a famously flamboyant bunch . Among them are species that wait likegrapes , sheep , banana tree , and even one that candecapitate its own headto grow a fresh body from scratch line .
As well as being spectacularly colorful , our rainbow sea slug has an strange sexuality life-time . Being hermaphrodites , both parties in a mating pair are equipped with both set of reproductive organs .
The ocean slugsbattle it out with their penisesto decide who is the “ dominant male ” , with the victor being whoever first permeate the dead body rampart of the other sea slug .
The rare sighting of this penis - wielding sea slog around Melledgan , an uninhabited rock’n’roll island in the Isles of Scilly , is surprising as it ’s quite far northerly for the coinage . Previously it ’s only been memorialise along the West coast of Spain and further in the south in the Atlantic , but never before in the UK .
“ We never give up to be amazed at the wildlife turning up in Scillonian water supply , ” say Lucy McRobert , Communications Manager at Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust . “ From rarefied and beautiful nudibranchs to purplish sea snails to great whale like kyphosis and fins , every time we dive beneath the surface we learn and see something raw ! ”
