I do recommend you google some photos to see the diversity, it’s astounding! Pictured here is a Spanish shawl nudibranch, isn’t it gorgeous? I’ve found many species in Santa Barbara, but good luck finding them! While they are brilliantly colored, nudibranchs are SMALL. There are over 3,000 species of nudibranchs in the world and they vary greatly in appearance. Nudibranchs are my favorite thing to find because they come in so many colors. With that being said, can you guess what the orange tufts on its back are? Yep, the gills! If you think these little guys bear a resemblance to sea hares, you’re right! They are also sea slugs! Their name comes from “nudi” (naked) and “branch” (gills). The black sea hares are the largest sea slug, weighing up to 30 lbs! That’s one big blob.Īlso pictured here is…sea hare eggs! Sea hare are hermaphrodites and lay eggs in gelatinous pink or yellow strings, so be on the lookout for what looks like old noodles! I’ll let you guess which eats brown seaweed and kelp and which eats red algae. Pictured here are black sea hares and California sea hares, both of which are herbivores and get their coloring from the food they eat. There is a small mouth on the underside of its head. And finally, we arrive at the bottom of the face with what looks like a face skirt or handlebar mustache situation-these are oral tentacles, used for sensing the world through scent, taste, and feel. Right at the base of the rhinophores are tiny eyes they do not really see objects so much as detect light and shade. The two bunny ear/antenna-looking protrusions on top of its head are “rhinophores,” which sense scent and taste, i.e.
Okay, so what is going on with that face, you wonder?! Let’s start at the top and work our way down. Named sea hares because they look like they have bunny ears, they are a type of sea slug-a generic term for gastropod mollusks that have evolved to have no exterior shell. Sea hares are just plain weird and I love them for it. All of the shark eggs we’ve ever found have been (thankfully!) empty. While it is possible that a piece of kelp with an active egg may get dislodged and wash ashore, it’s uncommon. After a 9-12 month gestation (!), the baby shark will slip out of the egg and swim away. Female swell sharks will lay their eggs amongst the kelp forest and the curly tendrils get caught to the kelp, where the egg will be perfectly camouflaged. The egg feels leathery and has four curly tendrils (one coming out of each point - they’ve broken off in this specimen we found). Nicknamed “mermaid’s purse,” you should look for these amongst the kelp washed up on the sand. What you are more likely to find is their eggs! They like to live deeper in the water, are bottom-feeders, and nocturnal. We’ve already covered that leopard sharks give live births, but some sharks lay eggs! Swell sharks (named thus because they can swell their bodies as a mode of defense) are common in California, but it’s unlikely you’ll spot them in the surf.
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