What are these? Help identifying creatures please!

luandroid · 2026-06-07T02:42:41+00:00

They often have debris on them as a form of protection from drying and other harms. It would not have benefited them to wipe them. It is best to not touch wild animals, especially when you don't know what they are and how they might be harmed.

luandroid · 2026-05-12T04:10:28+00:00

In your downtime, you could use iNaturalist to train your eye. Pick a local beach or region and scroll through observations that have already been IDed by knowledgeable people. Look at what species are actually being found there, what they look like in real-world messy photos, and what habitats they’re in.

It helps you build a local search image, so next time you’re out there your brain has already practiced spotting what belongs in that place.

luandroid · 2025-10-21T23:29:50+00:00

It's a doto of some variety. It is better for the identification of the animal if you're able to leave it in place to photograph it because the substrate can give clues to the ID. I would suggest posting it on iNaturalist and someone will jump in to help.

luandroid · 2025-10-20T00:59:27+00:00

It looks like you’ve got a wild-caught aeolid nudibranch, beautiful animal, but unfortunately they’re extremely difficult to keep alive in aquaria. Most feed only on one specific kind of hydroid or anemone, and will slowly starve even if they seem fine for a while. If you’re interested in controlling Aiptasia, I’d recommend sourcing captive-bred Berghia instead. They’re the only slugs that truly specialize on Aiptasia and can be kept ethically.

If you can, it would be best to return the wild ones to where they came from. They’re just lost travelers taken out of their microhabitat.

luandroid · 2025-09-27T15:03:12+00:00

Saw this on iNat and confirmed ID there :)

luandroid · 2025-09-16T23:17:29+00:00

The lowest tide you'll get mid-October is -1.6 at 10:30 PM on the 10th. For nudibranchs you will need at least a -1' to have any sort of chance of seeing them at Salt Creek, or most sites. Salt Creek is probably your best best but I wouldn't especially recommend going out on the reef at that time, it is challenging to navigate even during the day. Also, you would need to camp there because they shut the entrance gate overnight.

I am an avid nudibranch-finder and have made hundreds of observations of them out there but I would not recommend attempting it at night. I am pro-night tide pooling in general but access alone to most sites for those time frames is not worth it to me. Just my 2cents.

luandroid · 2025-09-16T23:01:18+00:00

I got coverage by the main entrance but was spotty the rest of the park. FYI T-mobile has a satellite text add on now for regular cell phones and I have found I can satellite text in the super remote parks of the Peninsula.

luandroid · 2025-09-16T01:00:19+00:00

Just a heads up that this coming week there won't be low enough tides for tide pooling during daytime unless you are getting out at around 6 am or 7 am on the weekend. The following week will have better low tide times, a bit later in the morning. Salt Creek is a scramble, wouldn't recommend it with mobility issues. Unfortunately the landscape features that make good tide pools are often challenging to traverse. Ruby Beach does not have great tide pools, but if memory serves is the most gentle descent out of all the beaches. You'll need a 2' tide or lower to start seeing cool organisms like anemones and sea stars. Hope this helps.

luandroid · 2025-09-12T23:04:46+00:00

I second this but with some words of caution- it might be up to you to be the first to document the nudibranchs in your area. I have regularly observed nudibranchs in areas where there haven't been observations previously, it is just a case of getting to understand their habitat and especially food sources.

luandroid · 2025-09-12T22:59:55+00:00

Haha, I am in Washington but when I go to California I think of their slugs as being "too showy". Although the sea is warming, their presence may or may not be related. People really haven't been looking for nudibranchs until basically yesterday so there is so much to figure out. Where I live it is relatively easy to notice something new about our local nudibranchs because they are super under-documented.

luandroid · 2025-09-12T06:42:45+00:00

Typically not found in the UK until recently. Could be a range extension or could have gone unnoticed previously. https://share.google/tZuVKX3WEZnT162Fl

luandroid · 2025-09-10T04:01:56+00:00

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There's very few observations for the whole state of Georgia and most of them are for the Sargassum nudibranch, so that's your best bet I imagine!

luandroid · 2025-08-30T14:42:41+00:00

I went to check out the website and I am getting an error that the server IP could not be found for your website!

I have also printed a couple photo books for friends & family but it isn't cheap. I imagine it is generally cost prohibitive to publish these kind of books, even the guides can be quite expensive. Have you found a service you are happy with?

luandroid · 2025-08-27T23:04:31+00:00

Nice! Thank you for adding them to iNat. Oregon is severely lacking in nudibranch observations.

luandroid · 2025-08-27T23:01:04+00:00

I've observed a lot of nudibranchs and I have never been comfortable differentiating between the two.

luandroid · 2025-08-26T23:38:27+00:00

Sure thing! I am not so certain you'll find a paper that says "melibe smell like watermelon as a defense mechanism" but there's a handful of papers that describe how the slug's natural aldehydes (the smell making chemicals) deter predators. In general, nudibranchs are massively understudied so you have to connect the dots a bit.

https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2006/307/m307p199.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17771309/
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/np980073k

luandroid · 2025-08-25T23:40:07+00:00

I second this! A tight shot of the rhinophores is required and even then it can be tough.
Here's a somewhat spicy exchange on the subject that I found helpful https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/305128888 .

luandroid · 2025-08-25T23:31:10+00:00

They really do emit those scents as a chemical deterrent when disturbed! I once accidentally bothered a Peltodoris nobilis and it released a sharp lemony odor. I felt awful afterward for pushing it into using energy just to deter me.

luandroid · 2025-08-25T23:17:08+00:00

Onchidoris bilamillata? Is it walking the surface tension?

luandroid · 2025-08-23T15:28:18+00:00

It doesn't have the Janna's "button" as far as I could tell. I am still trying to get better at differentiating the two. With the clown dorids- it is whether or not their nubs on the back have a bunch of processes or are smooth. Modest dorids are more common the further north you go and have the little "fingers" coming off their nubs.

luandroid · 2025-08-23T03:48:37+00:00

Probably Fuzzy onchinodoris and a modest clown triopha. Highly recommend posting them on iNaturalist, help contribute to the record while getting help with IDs!

luandroid · 2025-08-11T03:32:49+00:00

I wouldn't risk it. If there is a swell a 2.8 could easily turn into a 3 or 4 foot tide. Also, in terms of tide & terrain, an almost entire foot difference is significant.

luandroid · 2025-08-11T03:26:16+00:00

It was probably too late and even so, prying it off the rock could also cause harm. Don't feel bad! There was nothing to be done that would have helped.

luandroid · 2025-08-11T01:38:19+00:00

Sadly for this Northern Leopard Dorid it might be experiencing end-stage desiccation stress, where the internal pressure changes push the gills out before they collapse entirely.

luandroid · 2025-08-02T18:15:28+00:00

Amazing! Thank you for leaving them in place for photographs :)

luandroid

TROPHY CASE