Red-tipped Sea Goddess

Family: Chromodorididae (Dorid Nudibranchs)
Size: Up to 6.5 cm (2.5 in) | Common: 4 cm
Depth: 1 – 30m (3 – 100ft)

Distribution: Eastern Tropical Pacific (Gulf of California down to Peru, including Malpelo and the Galapagos Islands).

Identification: A gorgeous, cleanly colored dorid nudibranch that is a major favorite for underwater macro photographers.

• The Tri-Color Border: The margin of the mantle is elegantly ruffled and bordered by three distinct lines: an outermost edge of stark white, a bright red-to-crimson inner stripe, and a soft yellow-to-orange band running underneath it.
• Alabaster White Base: The body and tail possess a uniform, opaque alabaster white coloration that contrasts beautifully with dark volcanic reefs.
• Tipped Antennae and Gills: The head rhinophores and the exposed rear branchial gill plume are translucent white, accented with brilliant crimson-red tips.

Behavior: A resilient and conspicuous reef explorer.

• Chemical Defense: Because it feeds entirely on toxic encrusting sponges, it processes and stores these toxic secretions in its mantle tissue. Its brilliant neon trim serves as a structural warning advertisement to predators that it is completely unpalatable.
• Reef Navigation: They can be found moving deliberately across current-swept rocky walls, shallow overhangs, and macro muck zones both day and night as they hunt for sponge colonies.