Bushy-backed sea slug
The bushy-backed sea slug is a fascinating marine creature known for its distinctive bushy tufts of feathery gills, which aid in its oxygen intake from the water. This mollusk belongs to the kingdom Animalia and the class Gastropoda, specifically within the order Nudibranchia, characterized by its exposed gills. Found in shallow waters across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, the bushy-backed sea slug can grow to about 4 inches (10 centimeters) in length. Its coloration, featuring irregular red and brown markings, helps it blend into its environment, resembling seaweed or coral.
This sea slug primarily feeds on hydroids, using its tentacle-like projections to capture prey. Unlike some of its relatives, it does not utilize the stinging cells of hydroids for defense but instead employs its own digestive glands. The bushy-backed sea slug is hermaphroditic, possessing both male and female reproductive organs, and engages in cross-fertilization to reproduce. After a short larval stage, young sea slugs eventually settle and grow into adults. With a life span of approximately one year, the bushy-backed sea slug remains a unique part of the marine ecosystem, sharing a lineage with snails and other slugs but without a protective shell.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Bushy back sea slug
The bushy-backed sea slug gets its name from the bushy tufts of feathery gills on its back. Like land slugs, the bushy-backed sea slug needs oxygen to survive. The gills on the bushy-backed sea slug's back help it breathe by processing oxygen from the water.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Family: Dendronotidae
Genus: Dendronotus
Species: Frondosus
The bushy-backed sea slug lives in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. Like other sea slugs, it inhabits shallow waters. The bushy-backed sea slug glides through the water disguised as a piece of seaweed or coral.
The bushy-backed sea slug is disguised by irregular, red and brown markings on its gills and back. The slug grows to an average length of about 4 inches (10 centimeters). As its name suggests, the bushy-backed sea slug has a bushy back. This appearance is the result of the two rows of five to eight bushy projections of feathery gills and many tentacle-like projections located on this creature's back.
The gills of the bushy-backed sea slug enable this animal to breathe underwater. Since the bushy-backed sea slug cannot breathe air like humans, it needs a system to take oxygen from the water. The gills of the bushy-backed sea slug are the solution. Since the bushy-backed sea slug has such obvious gills, scientists classify this animal in the order Nudibranchia, or exposed gills.
At one end of its body, the bushy-backed sea slug has a pair of sensory tentacles, or rhinophores. These tentacles pick up chemical signals from nearby prey. The diet of the bushy-backed sea slug consists mostly of hydroids. Hydroids are tiny, tube-shaped animals closely related to sea anemones. The bushy-backed sea slug kills its prey by the many branches, or tentacle-like projections, on its body.
Although hydroids have stinging cells, the bushy-backed sea slug does not save and use the poisons of those cells like some species of sea slugs. Instead of shooting its prey with stolen poisons, the bushy-backed sea slug has digestive glands in its branches. The bushy-backed sea slug pulls in its prey and moves it directly into its body using its branches.
Like other sea slugs, the bushy-backed sea slug is a hermaphrodite. This means it has both male and female sexual organs. Each bushy-backed sea slug releases both sperm and eggs into the water for reproduction. On many occasions, the egg or sperm of one bushy-backed sea slug joins with the egg or sperm of another bushy-backed sea slug to form a young sea slug. This process is known as cross-fertilization. After fertilization, bushy-backed sea slug eggs eventually hatch into floating larval bushy-backed sea slugs. They stay in this form for a few weeks before settling into the sea bed and maturing into adults.
Like other sea slugs, the bushy-backed sea slug has a life span of one year.
The bushy-backed sea slug is a close relative of snails and other slugs. Unlike snails, the bushy-backed sea slug does not have a hard, protective outer shell.
Bibliography
Cordz, Kristin. "Dendronotus Frondosus." Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dendronotus‗frondosus. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.