Sea Bunnies are a thing, shame on us for not talking about them more often.

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image showing Sea Bunnies are a thing, shame on us for not talking about them more often.

toeofcamell on April 10th, 2021 at 04:17 UTC »

Looks like a slime mold has half eaten two eyelash make up applicators

Anonymoususer0911 on April 10th, 2021 at 04:28 UTC »

Looks poisonous

SandakinTheTriplet on April 10th, 2021 at 07:30 UTC »

This is a species of nudibranch! Jorunna parva — you can find them in the western Pacific along coasts in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, eastern Australia, etc. They’re one of hundreds of nudibranch species, and all of them look wildly different from one another.

The “rabbit ears” on the front of it’s body are called rhinophores, which they use to find food and seek out other nudibranchs. The “tail” is a brachial plume, which is their respiratory system. (Nudibranch means “naked gill,” because they have their gills on the outside of their body)

This species is not dangerous to touch*, but nudibranchs don't like to be touched. However, another type called aeolid nudibranchs can sting because they have the ability to “steal” the stinging mechanisms of their prey and incorporate it into their own defenses. One that can give a painful sting to humans is the sea swallow. They eat man-o-wars.

Edit: (I’m no expert, I just like nudibranchs and my mind is 80% weird animal facts.)

Edit 2: Philippines, not Philippians!

*Edit 3: I’m striking this because after reading more about this species I’m very unclear whether it can sting people or not. (I keep seeing the phrase “they’re toxic, so don’t eat them,” which is confusing) it’s better not to touch any of them anyway, harmful or not. Bright colors in nature are generally warning signals and there are a few nudibranchs that certainly can sting.