Hooded Nudibranch Facts
With its clear coloration, round-shaped hood, and wispy tentacles, the hooded nudibranch (Melibe leonina) looks like a jellyfish but is actually a sea slug. They can grow to be about 3 to 4 inches long and are characterized by an imposing hood which is lined with inward-facing, short tentacles. The oral hood is used as a net to catch prey and help them to move through the water. The hooded nudibranch can often be found living in eelgrass meadows, a habitat that provides them with food and shelter from prey.
DID YOU KNOW?
Hooded nudibranchs catch their prey using a similar method to that of a Venus flytrap. They typically plant themselves on a blade of eelgrass, and as the grass sways, use their inflated hood to catch food, rapidly closing it when unknowing prey drift in.
Unlike most nudibranchs, the hooded nudibranch feeds on moving prey in shallow waters such as zooplankton, small crustaceans, and very small fish. Most other sea slugs typically go after immobile prey that lives in deeper waters.
Predators of the hooded nudibranchs are sunflower sea stars and crabs.
The name “nudibranch” is Latin for “naked gills.” Hooded nudibranchs have exposed gills that help them absorb oxygen in the water.
Photo by Vlad Karpinsky (Creative Commons Flickr). Banner photo by Peggy Coburn.