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Seaslug Camouflages in Seaweed

Winner of the ‘best camoflauge’ contest, the nudibranch Scyllaea pelagica is betrayed only by motion.
(Seabird McKeon)

Winner of the ‘best camouflage’ contest, the nudibranch Scyllaea pelagica (Scyllaeidae) is usually betrayed only by its motion. Along its back, the sea slug has growths called papillae that help its masterful disguise. The papillae resemble the sargassum's own hydroids that these sea slugs love to graze.

Off the coast of Belize, Smithsonian Marine Science Network postdoctoral fellow, Seabird McKeon, studies floating seaweeds and the minuscule animals that call them home. Check out his slide show and blog and be amazed by the vast array of tiny life forms floating in the world adrift