Nudibranch Spotlight
Published:
Nudibranchs from Mozambique.
As I’m finishing up my thesis comparing the influence of sampling methodology on estimates of nudibranch abundance, diversity, and community composition on rocky reefs in Závora, Mozambique, I wanted to take a moment to share more about my favorite little critters.
I first fell in love with nudibranchs during my study abroad in Australia, and I’ve known since 2022 that I wanted to study them for my master’s research. There’s something about them that just gets me every time, and I often get so excited I let our a little scream of excitement underwater. Tthe colors, the patterns, the gills and rhinophores and cerata, the fact that some are the size of a grain of rice and others stretch out to a third of a meter! Once I start looking for them, I can’t stop.
My research
For my thesis, I compared three different SCUBA-based sampling methodologies to determine their influence on estimates of nudibranch abundance, diversity, and community composition on rocky reefs. Over the course of my fieldwork in Závora, I collected data on 343 individual nudibranchs. Every single one of those 343 was measured, photographed, and identified. Then, I spent weeks analyzing all of the data I collected, computing the statistics of alpha and beta diversity, indicator species analysis, GLMs, and wrote my 61 page thesis on it all!
Figure 3.3 from my thesis, showing six indicator nudibranch species. A, Sakuraeolis arcana. B, Chromodoris hamiltoni. C, Chromodoris celinae. D, Chromodoris africana. E, Nembrotha aurea. F, Halgerda wasinensis (mating pair). Photographs: Maya Mégret.
A new region, a new list
Now that I’m working as a divemaster guide in Hawai’i, I’ve started cataloging a whole new range of species. It’s such a fun shift, going from being somewhat familiar with the nudibranch community of one specific stretch of Mozambican coastline to being a total beginner again, learning a completely different regional fauna dive by dive. I’m really enjoying discovering the species that live in this region of the world!
Golden nudibranchs from Hawai'i.
If you want to see more of what I’ve found, my Species Log is synced straight from my iNaturalist observations and updates every time I log something new. I try to get a photo of every nudibranch I see and upload any new species there to maintain a log of each one I see!
