Chromodoris willani, blue nudibranch (2)

Photo: Kim Yusuf

Chromodoris willani, blue nudibranch (3)

Flickr user Affers

blue nudibranch (1)

Photo: Reddit

 Habitat: Western Pacific Ocean, from Indonesia and the Philippines to Vanuatu
Status: No Conservation Concerns

These cheery little blue nudibranchs are examples of the species Chromodoris willani which are named after the renowned nudibranch taxonomist Dr. Richard C. Willan. I wonder what his business cards look like…

Individuals in this species can range in color from dark blue to a translucent white. All have black stripes with the center-most stripe typically being non-continuous. They are, on average, 14mm in length (suuuups tiny)!

Chromodoris willani, blue nudibranch (4)

Chromodoris willani are tiny!!
Photo: http://seaslug12poyo.blogspot.com/

The most distinguishing external feature are the white spots or specks on both the gills and the rhinophores. It almost looks as if they are encrusted in thousands of sparkling diamonds!! These, much like the Blue Dragon Nudibranch, are some of the most spectacular nudibranchs found in the oceans.