Flabellina affinis, aka The Mediterranean violet Aeolid!

               Flabellina affinis, aka The Mediterranean violet Aeolid!

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This is whats called a sea slug. (Very cool animals!) which are these little guys who look like slugs!

This little guy is sometimes called the Mediterranean violet Aeolid, but their scientific name is Flabellina Affnis. It lives in the Mediterranean sea, and usually lives around 50 meters deep! (Thats around 164 feet!)

> Its very small, usually around 50 millimeters, which is around 2 inches!! (They're so itty bitty!)

> They feed on these things that are called Eudendrium.

                               that's the photo above!
Eudendrium is a type of Hydrozoa (like jellyfish!) these look sorta like plants, but they're not. They're poisonous, but sea slugs can eat the little stingers without being harmed! In fact, they turn it into a defense mechanism! it stores them in its cerata, which are the little finger like things on its back, and if threatened it shoots them out! So I wouldn't recommend touching these little guys no matter how much you want too.

These little guys do have eyes, but the cant see very well, and you can tell these little guys apart because the tips of their cetras are white with a little violet band underneath them. Isn't that neat?