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Mexichromis mariei Size: 1.2 in (3 cm)

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Nembrotha kubaryana Size: 2.4 inches (6 cm)

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Chromodoris sp.

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Flabellina exoptata Size: 1.2 in (3 cm)

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Chromodoris annae compensate for their tiny size with loud, contrasting hues - warning predators of a toxic snack. Size: 0.8 in (2 cm)

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Jorunna funebris Size: 2 in (5 cm)

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Bornella anguilla flees danger by folding in its appendages and swimming like an eel. Size: 2.8 in (7 cm)

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Thecacera pacifica Size: 2.4 in (6 cm)

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A hard body and thick skin help armor Halgerda batangas against predators. Any that persist learn that the sponge-eater also exudes a toxin. Size: 1.6 in (4 cm)

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Nembrotha cristata Size: 4.7 in (12 cm)

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Cuthona sp. Size: 0.7 in (1.8 cm)

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Chromodoris dianae Size: 2.4 in (6 cm)

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A quartet of Risbecia tryoni nudibranchs show the beginnings of trailing behavior, in which the animals follow one another's slime trails, each hot on the tail of the next.

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Glossodoris averni Size: 2.4 in (6 cm)

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Hypselodoris sp. Size: 2 in (5 cm)

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With a flip of its skirt, Hexabranchus sanguineus can flee danger by taking to the open sea - a skill many of its cousins lack. Known as the Spanish dancer, the species is a giant among nudibranchs; some grow to a foot and a half, on a diet strictly of sponges. When not flashing its contrasting mantle colors to distract predators, the animal is actually camouflaged in its habitat.

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A toxic Euselenops luniceps sidegill slug.

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Godiva sp. Size: 1.6 in (4 cm)

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Looking more flora than fauna, a plate-size "solar powered" nudibranch - Phyllodesmium longicirrum - farms zooxanthellae algae within its own body.

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Phyllidiella pustulosa Size: 2.4 in (6 cm)

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Phyllidia ocellata Size: 2.4 in (6 cm)

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As adults, nudibranchs can be finicky eaters: A zebra-striped species of Armina, a genus that ranges to 8 inches long, plays tug-of-war with its sole prey, the burrowing sea pen. A tiny blenny bystander picks the safer perch.

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Built to feed exclusively on corals like this spindly gorgonian, a translucent 1.7-inch-long Phyllodesmium iriomotense houses its branching digestive gland within tentacle-like cerata - outgrowths the animal can shed if under attack. This species is one of the few colorless nudibranchs.

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Inch-long Hypselodoris whitei mate head to tail through a genital aperture. Equipped with both male and female reproductive organs - as are all nudibranchs - each fertilizes the other, and both produce eggs.

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Also able to camouflage themselves are tiny imperial shrimp, Periclimenes imperator, which at 0.7 inch long can nestle in the gills of a Spanish dancer, finding safe harbor and bits of food. Whether the tag-along shrimp benefit their host is uncertain - one of many nudibranch puzzles yet to be solved.

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Asteronotus cespitosus Size: 8.7 in (22 cm)

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Hypselodoris kanga, 1.6 inches long, uses its sticky foot to secure an egg ribbon extruded from an oviduct on its side; hatchlings by the thousands will soon disperse with the currents.

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Ceratosoma gracillimum Size: 4.7 in (12 cm)

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A Ceratosoma nudibranch appears to attack a stock-still variable sabretooth blenny (Petroscirtes variabilis). But this was not a bite (the nudibranch eats sponges), just happenstance in the night.

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Pteraeolidia ianthina Size: 5.9 in (15 cm)

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Common hitchhiker, an imperial shrimp (Periclimenes imperator) feeds - perhaps on sea debris or fecal pellets - where its host, a Ceratosoma nudibranch, has laid a ribbon of eggs.

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