Habitat: West Atlantic – Caribbean to Brazil; possibly east Pacific
Status: Not listed
This is the pizza crust sea slug (Pleurobranchus areolatus) which, as you may have guessed, gets its name from the fact that it looks like a lovely cheese pizza (ok maybe sometimes with pepperoni, too).
These strange creatures are found over a very wide distribution, which includes the Caribbean, tropical West Africa and the eastern Pacific. Specimens in California and Brazil have been documented at over 150 cm in length… so we’re not exactly talking about a pizza party-sized nudibranch here!
Photo: Anne DuPont
Underwater this moving pizza crust sea slug looks a little less cheesy, though. It’s actually really pretty, I think!
