Spotted Leopard Nudibranch (Diaulula odonoghuei)

Description: Spotted leopard nudibranchs are aptly named for their appearance. They are most often a brown color but can come in white or gray as well, with large dark brown or black spots scattered around their body. The gills and rhinophores are off-white to light brown in color. The rhinophores are short and often hard to see, especially when the individual is out of the water. In the intertidal, they are often up to 5 cm long but in the subtidal they can get up to 8 cm long.

Habitat: Spotted leopard dorids are found on rocks from the mid intertidal to depths of 35 m in the subtidal zone. They range from Alaska to central California and can be found in Japan and along the Korean Peninsula.

Diet: This species of nudibranch prefers to eat the purple sponge (Haliclona cinerea).

Tide Pool Tidbits:

• As they grow, the spots on the individuals grow larger and they accumulate more spots!

References: Walla Walla University, The New Beachcomber’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest by J Duane Sept