Quick correction: sea bunny “carophyllidia” is actually “caryophyllidia”. I guess I misread it while researching and my brain just omitted the first “y”?? my b
You should do some merch with the sea slugs similar to Pokémon. I don´t know, like a shirt that features some of your favorites. And, hopefuly, it sells well and you can keep them coming with new sea slugs on every new shirt.
"You are what you eat." Well, not quite. Many years ago I was at the Whole Earth Show at UC Davis. Wavy Gravy was the master of ceremonies. He opened up the show by saying, "You aren't what you eat. You are what you don't shit back out."
7:41 my senior year of high school the fall musical was the little mermaid. I was cast as a sea slug, so I chose to be Glaucus atlanticus with my makeup.
Sea slugs have always been a favorite for me! Here’s some of my favs that weren’t mentioned: Pikachu nudibranch Chromodoris annae Chromodoris willani Phyllidia varicosa Clione limacine Nembrotha kubaryana Phylliroe bucephalum and Chromodoris luteorosea
Okay I’m a cell person. Firstly that article is pretty wild. Summery (best I understand, sea slug genomes are not my wheelhouse), is that the genes required for supporting chloroplast are not passed vertically (from parent to offspring), but rather sea slugs have this gene (psbO gene) that acts as a transposon that targets the HGT gene in algae and incorporates it into the non-germ cells of sea slugs! I have a friend who has a micro PhD focusing on algae so I might run it by him and see what he thinks! Thanks for the video!
So, in short, they are born with a "genetic theft kit" that lets them steal the "how to take care of chloroplast" recipe from the alge they eat? That's several kinds of wild all at once!
I'm hijacking your comment cause I really like endosymbionts and the way that the slugs use them is actually super cool! For a bit of background, plastids are basically plant mitochondria, they're photosynthetic bacteria that got taken up really far back on the evolutionary tree, losing parts of their genome (stuff that protects them from predators or allows motility) and transferring other parts to their host. The paper sequenced the genomes of E. chlorotica and the alga they eat, V. litorea. V. litorea plastids have most of the genes they need to function without aid from the host genome, but they're missing an important gene in their metabolism that splits off oxygen from water, which they get from the genome of V. litorea. This gene was found in E. chlorotica adults and eggs, which allows them to give the plastids the genes they need to function. It's not certain how this happened, but the mutation is in the germline of the slugs, i.e. it is part of the species now! The gene transfer probably resulted from them eating the algae, causing the nucleus with all its genetic material to rupture inside the cell, where it either integrated with their mitochondrial DNA or maybe even into their chromosomal DNA, although the paper didn't get to determine which. It's super cool, and is a very clear example of horizontal gene transfer between really extant species, which could be an evolutionary contributor in some cases!
@lesbian_ninetales I am far from any form a cell person but this kind of nerdy stuff is what I thrive for and the idea of animal cells that can do that is insane but cool!
Dude, I would watch a 5 hour video on the coolest nudibranchs you could find. They’re so interesting! The kleptoplast stuff is INSANE!! Did not know that was even a possibility!
The watermelon smell that the lions mane/hooded Nudibranchs give off is hella strong. As someone whose done some work in aquariums I have definitely experienced this heady aroma that honestly smells better than actual watermelons to me. It doesn't last too long, but its crazy that its strong enough to be smelt from across a large room
@@MatthewTheWanderer yes but how I understood it- because I obviously checked that immediately ...because they're precious - its really complicated to have the water conditions right- and much more problematic is their nutrition because they're so many species and its very specific to even individuals and were they live and how their diet looks like. im not a biologist tho so I just got that its possible to have them when u kinda live close to their natural habitat- or like professional aquariums that u can visit at the zoo....but I need to say-i was in alot of different ones around germany and France and never saw them being kept here.
One of my favorite nudibranchs is the sea lemon!!! Not only are they bumpy and yellow exactly like a lemon, they SMELL LIKE CITRUS when disturbed as some kind of defense mechanism!!!
So... there's a magical place I've referenced for years called the Sea Slug Forum. Nothin but slugs. Sea slugs make a fantastic art subject! Some of my faves I think you'll like: Okenia hallucigenia, Hermosita hakunamatata(looks gross but fun name), Limacia cockerelli, Digidentis perplexa, Tritonia festiva, and a billion others. Dude... I seriously have a bookmarks folder labeled "Sluggos" just... just full of freakin sea slugs. This video made me so happy, thank you. May you find a plethora of silly slug buddies along your life journeys.
So excited to see my little sacoglossan buddies getting some recognition! I love the Leaf sheep to such an extent even, that I wrote my thesis about solar-powered sea slugs! I understand that you have limited time to research for these videos, but I'd like to give my two cents on the Horizontal gene transfer debate in the Kleptoplasty research community. The fact that species like Elysia chlorotica (and others, like E. veridis, and some of the ones you mentioned as well) can keep the chloroplasts for so long is almost certainly not due to Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT). (Also, the stolen chloroplasts sometimes also get called kleptoplasts, because they're plastids that got klepto'd (=stolen)). There are a few papers that are vehemently in favour of HGT, but most of these have been refuted over time (summarized in Rauch et al 2015; Why it is time to look beyond algal genes in photosynthetic slugs). For example, the paper that will most likely show up in an initial research into kleptoplasty and the longevity of kleptoplasts is a paper by Pierce, but in one of his papers he claims that both of these phenomena are caused by HGT. He bases this claim on a transcriptomic reading (basically reading genes) of 2 in 98,238,204 reads. Yes, that is 2 reads out of 98 MILLION that COULD be a sign of HGT. For reference, if there were contamination in this transcriptomic reading, there would be more reads that could be an indication of HGT. Furthermore, as you said, this kleptoplasty has been found in many species. Kleptoplasty itself has evolved anywhere from 3-5 separate times (which is still being researched and debated). This would make it very very statistically unlikely that kleptoplasty comes from HGT, as HGT in multicellular origanisms is already INCREDIBLY rare. The chances of it happening once is already really low, let alone that it happened 3-5 separate times in the same superorder (Sacoglossa). Theres a multitude of different hypotheses that better support the longevity of the kleptoplasts. I'll list a few and explain it in an (hopefully) understandable way, what they do and give some of my favourite hypotheses at the end. The slugs could be using/activating the kleptoplasts own xhanthophyll cycle (XC), this is a photoprotective reaction that is in the chloroplasts. This means that the kleptoplast is capable of reducing damage when it gets too much sunlight. Think of it as cells trying to protect the kleptoplast from getting a sunburn. However, this hypothesis can not be applied to all solar-powered slugs, as the XC needs to be a property of the algae it feeds on. Not all solar-powered slugs feed on algae that have the XC, so this hypothesis can't be applied to all solar-powered slugs. A similar process can be found being (most likely) performed fully autonomously by the kleptoplast. It is called the D1 repair cycle. That repair cycle repairs damage in the kleptoplast if it has been damaged by receiving too much sun. Think of it as the kleptoplast getting rid of toxins produced by it getting sunburnt. This repair cycle is typical for (I think) most plants, so it wouldn't be wierd if this was a crucial part of the longevity of kleptoplasts. However, this is a pretty recent finding, so more research has to be done. There have also been some research into the gene expression of the slugs. This hypothesis is quite a slog to research but it boils down to: the slug can up-regulate (do more) or down-regulate (do less) certain processes in its body. This would allow for the perfect environment for the kleptoplasts to be in. But yet again, more research needs to be done, as only two species have been compared to each other. Then theres my favourite hypotheses. Parapodial phototaxis! Parapodia are the 'wings' or 'flaps' on the back of a sea slug. You can see these wings well on Elysia veridis, Elysia chlorotica, and Elysia timida. But they don't always have to be wings. For example, on Elysia crispata they look more like loose lettuce leaves! The 'phototaxis' part means that the slugs display a certain behaviour according to the light that they are in. Thus parapodial phototaxis is the slug making its parapodia move in accordance to the amount of sun it is receiving. So if it is very shady, Elysia timida will spread its parapodia so that it can use its photosynthesis even though its very dim, without harming the kleptoplasts. If the slugs are in a very bright environment, they will close their parapodia, shading them from the harmful and harsh sun. Other species like Elysia crispata, Plakobranchus ocellatus, and Thuridilla hopei (a really pretty one!) exhibit this bahaviour too! Some species will instead just display phototaxis. Thus, they just move their entire body into a place where they feel like the sun gives a comfortable amount of energy. Wooow, that was a longer comment than I thought it would be, but I'm just very excited to be able to talk about my thesis any chance I get. If anyone has any questions I'll try my best to answer them, but keep in mind that this research is fairly new. It's just that (in my opinion) we can certainly say that HGT is NOT playing any role in these mysterious creatures. I'd love to help make a video on this topic, but I also understand that it is a hyperspecific topic that not everyone will be interested in (even though you can show some of these amazing sacoglossans off on screen).
Very COOL, Blue Dragon is just unreal. I didn’t realize how small they are! IDEA for a videos JUMPING SPIDERS! Tiny, CUTE, FRIENDLY and absolutely amazing biology! There are now theories out there that they may actually DREAM! How their eyes work is amazing!
5:06 Fun fact: Those nematocyst hold the craziest record in the animal kingdom, imo. This thread gets shot out with an acceleration so large, it would be enough to counter the gravitational pull on the surface of a neutron star (ie. 5.4 MILLION g).
Used to be an Animal Jam kid and one of the interactive games was a tide pool like they have at aquariums where you could touch things. You'd get a reward for touching one of each creature at the end. One of things you were able to touch was the Blue Dragon sea slug. This was a game run from *National Geographic*, who probably should have known better than to encourage 6-12 year olds to touch a Blue Dragon.
@@maskedmallard537 Same, it was honestly so addicting. That and the sandcastle game where you had to make a moat/stream from the shore to the castle. Loved that shit back in the day
In a D&D game that I am worldbuilding for, I turned the Blue Dragon Sea Slug into an actual aquatic dragon in the world, going to be taking inspiration from some of these other delightful little guys for more worldbuilding.
As a PF2e GM predominantly, the BattleZoo Bestiary released by a third party comes to mind with a giant blue sea dragon in it. It also has a 5e version. I don't own the 5e books by Roll for Combat so I can't tell you much about that statblock though.
@bobthet-rex2718 One of my favorite examples of this was figuring out the genetics behind dragonborn color inheritance. Like, if two dragonborn of different types had a kid, what color & breath weapon would result. Since scale color & breath weapons are genetically linked (maybe on the same locus?), I decided colors with the same breath weapon could mix (red & gold scales on the same person for example), but colors with different weapons can't. You end up with the color & weapon of just one of your parents, not a blend. I did NOT go so far as to determine dominance order or anything like that. But now I might need to because that sounds fascinating
@@7337blackwolf dominant and recessive genes are a ton of fun but also such a deep rabbit hole. I was working on explaining the intersections of Genasi genetics and how it impacts other genes as they are a half species, and it is so interesting. Also, may I propose the current question boggling my mind, how does one sequence a Changelings genetic code into that of a species, do they change down to such a genetic level, if so, does that mean that they operate similarly to the Horizontal Gene Transfer that a lot of bacteria exhibit like what was mentioned in the video.
My favorite sea slug is elysia marginata. It can decapitate itself and grow a whole new body including a new heart. Thats fucking insane and so cool! It also uses kleptoplasty and looks cute
I looked this up and oh my god. when the images loaded I had the same reaction as a dog who's getting riled up with "you wanna go for walkies????" 😂 they're awesome, thanks for sharing!
Nudibranchs are definitely some of the more fascinating animal groups to talk about, simply because of how varied and wild their adaptations can be. One of the more fascinating sea slugs that was not mentioned in this video has to be Phylliroe bucephala, which is a nudibranch that has evolved a body plan of a fish to adapt to pelagic environments, a remarkable example of convergent evolution.
nudibranches are my favorite animals!! I did one of my college art finals making surrealist paintings on several types of nudibranches and their evolutionary characteristics as literal aspects (air sacs allowing sea dragons to float on the surface to eat cnidarians being literally lifted by balloons, sacoglossan "blending in" with monarch wings, aeolid having literal jellyfish parts built into them). It's one of my favorite creative projects I've done and it's so cool to see all these critters highlighted here!!
Elysia Chlorotica, got me 4 A's acrossed 3 classes, inspired a character for my dnd campaign, and at least 1 A that I wrote for a "friend" so they had leeway for a movie date. Ultimately, my dive into the eastern emerald resulted in 5 A's, some pearl diving and a home run. Go hybrid plant/animals.
@@LindsayNikole I got a tattoo in the same area (L arm) and it was AWFUL. I didn't have the option to split it up, because I was a seven hour drive from home and leaving the next day. Regrets were felt.
@@LindsayNikole I highly recommend Painless Tattoo numbing cream! It was the only way I was able to get through my second sessions for my full chest tattoo.
I wanna be a zoologist when i grow up because i have a special interest in animals since i could remember (im autistic) and i randomly found this channel and its just reinforcing my belief that anything animal related gives me joy because WHATEVER video i watch its just AAAAAAAAAAAAA so thank u for giving cool animal things to our brains
Was very disappointed years ago when I learned that nudibranchs were so tiny. Like, I wasn't expecting them to be as big as Lindsay, but still, to learn that the 1/4-page photo of one in a book was vastly magnified was still a bit of a "aww, dang." moment.
Despair not. There are larger sea bunnies. The sea hare Lindsay mentions in her video (30-40cm or so) is one of them. And they are very cool. The sea hare spurts out violet ink when attacked, and can swim, oh and it's mildly toxic too.
@@neuforteils4479 I was more disappointed in the blue dragons being tiny, knowing that sea bunnies can get bigger than land bunnies is ... kinda disturbing in a way I don't like.🐇
oh man, this is PERFECT! i've been writing a fantasy comic, and i've been using sea creatures as inspiration for flora and fauna designs. awesome as always, dude!
My weird little Glaucus fact is that they live upside down, so you can argue that the sea surface is, to them, the 'ground' with the depths of the abyss being their 'sky'.
In college I did this report on different plant pathogens. Parasitic plants were a part of that, like Rafflesia arnoldii. the plant that looks like the Pokémon gloom. It also uses horizontal gene transfer to go unnoticed by its host plant, the tetrastigma vine
My daughter is an animal lover - all animals - doesn't matter if most ppl would find something ugly, she finds the beauty in it. We started sharing pictures of sea slugs a few years back, including the Sea Bunny and Leaf Sheep Sea Slug. I can't wait to show her this video. Keep up the great work Lindasy!
My favourite sea slugs are the flabellinas esp. the purple ones. I saw them on one of my first real scuba dives when I was 12 and they immediately became my faves. Also the name is just adorable
I had to share the leaf sheep sea slug with a friend, because it's ridiculously delightful. She already knew about them and told me they can decapitate themselves, then regrow their bodies! She then shared a link to a video in which Hank Green tells me more about leaf sheep sea slugs (via Bizarre Beasts)! Which somehow makes me even happier that Lindsay and Hank are doing a SciShow deep dive together (and somewhat worried about how much RUclips I'm watching). :)
Fun fact: Unlike their sea slug cousins, land slugs do not enjoy saltwater. Also, I'm imagining a mermaid with portugese man o'war tentacle hair. Or maybe a cap.
Oh my god they could have a blue dragon (or many) as a pet bc fantasy logic could mean that they are immune to the toxin of man o war and therefore immune to the blue dragon
7:43 okay actually love the reference to the minor god Glaucus, god of fishermen. Was pulled into ocean by very big fish on line, became blue mermaid dude that looks exactly like this. 10/10 no notes
Nudibranchs have been my favorite animal since I learned about them in a high school marine science class and when I tell you I was SO EXCITED when I saw the title
As someone who already ADORES nudibranchs and sacoglossan slugs and just sea slugs in general because they are objectively THE COOLEST, this is a fantastic day. Sea slug enjoyers RISE UP 💪
Update: have now watched the video and while Glaucus Atlanticus has been my #1 favorite animal for a very long time, you introduced me to SO MANY new cuties,; this is the best video ever
I love Nudibranchs. Years ago when I was surf fishing all the time in the Santa Barbara, Goleta CA area I would often see several species of them together in the tide pools. They always caught my attention right away because they were so vibrant and beautiful compared to most of the other sea life around them.
5:54 Please don't use that sound effect again, I lived in a college dorm last year for my freshman year and when I heard that I immediately got Vietnam flashbacks from the sheer amount of times someone overcooked ramen/microwaveable macaroni or pulled the alarm probably for a stupid frat ritual/initiation rite. Jokes aside, another great video! 👍
Also, speaking of toxic animals, can you do a video on toxic birds like my favorite animal, the pitohui, bc they're beautiful, but we can't touch them, unfortunately?
@@WildAbsolLvl.29 They're insectivorous; they don't eat plants. One possible source of the toxin is a certain beetle. You still have a point though, as they likely wouldn't have access to the beetle in captivity.
Did a high school art project on sea slugs. I made three slightly bigger than a hand sculptures and everyone loved them, especially the other teachers. It also got me the “best student in class” award so sea slugs are universally awesome!
Lindsay, the Leaf Sheep gotta be the COOLEST animal you have introduced. How can an animal be both plant AND animal at the same time???? And some of them actually cultivate their chloroplasts that they harvested??? That’s just beyond me, it’s like if someone shows you a plant that not only gets energy from sunlight, but also peanut butter you spread on their leaves…
I was waiting for the dusky nembrotha aka Nembrotha kubaryana lol it's as cute as the sea sheep slug but way more vibrant and striped! Nudibranchs are so cool
Omg I never put it together until literally just now, but does "branch" in anatomy usually refer to gills while "bronch" refers to lungs?? God I love science words so much. Language is so cool :)
It seems like the "bronch" root comes from the Latin word "bronchia", which in turn comes from the Greek word "bronkhia", which is just the plural form of "brónkhos" - Greek for "windpipe"
Flabellina rubrolineata!!! A bright pink aeolid nudibranch that might actually be multiple species (genetic sequencing pending). I personally prefer the form that's more pale teal and purple, but those sunset colors are SO striking
i looove sea bunnies and leaf slugs! nudibranchs in general are hella shaped from what i've seen, but those are just, uuuugh, most adorable little guys ever. and the fact that another name for leaf slugs is *leaf sheep* just kills me, dear lord 💚💚
my favorite sea slug besides the ones that can host chloroplasts like you mention are the Phylliroe, a sea slug that convergently evolved to have a body plan similar to fish and is an open ocean hunter of jellies.
Estatic for this video thankyou. I have been blessed with one of my favourite species. And how can you not be in awe of that beauty and adaptability as a soft bodied little guy. You go nature!
7:32 Once I went to a beach and there was like thousands of blue dragons washed up in the sand I wasn't wearing shoes and so anxious the whole time that i gets stung
Leaf Sheep!!! As a plant fan that whole group of slugs are so cool. It would be so cool to eat some plants and then be able to vibe in the sunlight photosynthesizing for a while.
VERY excited for the whale fall video ngl TONS of cool timelapse footage of these sorts of things If you want to see a weird tangential representation of it though, the Felix Colgrave/Wombot animation _Donks_ does a pretty good job
SO GLAD WE TALKING ABOUT SEA SLUGS! As a big ass nerd about Nudibranchs, yes they are my favorites! I love them, absolutely WILD AF little critters with gorgeous colors, and such variation in designs. Nature was cooking on these guys, And I am forever grateful for it. Love these funky lil guys.
I think it’s also cool that some of those sea slugs change color based on what they eat. Like how they take the poison or plants and store it they do it with pigment.
Sea slugs are my favorite animals! There’s a species of sea slug, I think a sacoglossan - which is able to regenerate its entire body! If it’s head is kept in tact, it can regrow its entire body. I imagine it’s because of its ability to photosynthesize it can stay alive that way. Pretty sick.
ya she has a few videos on it but she worked at a sanctuary in Africa. Iirc it’s why she made animals her career and she got to know some personally and got one tattoo’s on her. so that’s why they’re the Lore favorite animal
Some cheetah lore: by estimates based on genetic analysis, the species has gone through at least two drastic bottleneck events in the last 100000 years that sharply reduced their numbers and genetic diversity, leading to some phenotypic quirks, such as asymmetrical skulls, that are present in most if not all cheetahs currently alive. If I recall correctly the lineage of all currently living cheetahs are descendants of an estimated group of only 6 individuals. Unfortunately cheetahs are going through another bottleneck event in the modern era and are threateningly close to extinction.
I've always liked the Blue Dragon ever since I heard about it some 30ish years ago. This was a great episode! I love your energy, wish I had even a portion of that still lol.
I'm a dive instructor and regularly see the Lettuce Leaf Nudis on our dives. We also get the Regal Goddess in our area, and this year we started seeing a new Nudibranch but are not sure what species it is. Very small ( 1 inch max ) Red with white tips. Cool to find and show my students. Great video!
i recently started my grad program at a lab studying sea slugs (mostly sacoglossans) so it was very fun to see this video appear on my feed! nice break from the assignment i’m working on
As a sea slug connoisseur I highly approve of this video. Apparently some kleptoplastic sea slugs can, in case of tumours or parasites within their bodies, twist their heads off and survive off photosynthesis alone until they grow a new body. Wild.
I am ENAMOURED with sea slugs! They are so beautiful and cute and awesome. There are so, so many different types, but they all fit a different niche. It is unfortunate that you really can't keep them as pets because of how specialized their diets are. I like to make up my own sea slug designs to draw; they're so varied in real life, who's to say something I make up doesn't already exist?
I must add my favorites nudibranches here! Big fan of Spanish Shawl because of their stunning color and California Chromodorid. Generally a fan of the dorid nudibranch in general.
Go Lindsay! Love your vids. Met a bunch of Sea Hares (Aplysia fasciata) a while ago while free diving. They were a group of all sizes just chilling on the sandy bottom of the sea. They are very cool aquatic bunnies.
when i was little i found a blue dragon in a tidepool and picked it up, that night i got a minor rash so my parents looked up the blue dragon and discovered that it must'nt've eaten in a while and i was lucky not to get stung any worse
I had freshwater nematodes I got from middle school science class that would clean the glass in a guppy tank once…it’s about as close as I’ve ever gotten to a sea slug. So this video is cool, they looks like something Dr. Seuss would draw in a coloring book while hallucinating.
A Portuguese Man’o War is indeed in the the phylum Cnidaria. They are no Jellyfish though. Man’o War are Hydrozoa, more specific Siphonophores. It’s a colony of Zooids that are genetically the same but have all their own speciality in the function of the organism.
@@Sepi-chu_loves_moths every zooid is an organism that is multicellular. A bunch of these zooids form a colony and each zooid specialises in order to sustain the colony. Some become part of the digestive system, some become part of the reproductive system… Each individual can grow “buds” or other zooids to become a colony… We are not a colony. We are a multi cellular being just like a single zooid. Our cells can’t live outside our body and can’t reproduce . We also can’t become a colony by sticking several people together.
@lilitheden748 correct me if im wrong, but I don't think zooids can survive on their own. Since they lack the main floating zooid, they just sink to the seafloor. And since they don't have the other zooids (the reproductive parts, or the food collection, or digestion) they can't survive, let alone successfully reproduce. However, many invertebrates/plants can have parts cut off and survive and reproduce to produce another organism. So then what's the difference between an individual zooid and an organ, for example the branch of a plant? Especially since their buds are genetically identical. And we may not be able to create a human by melding several humans together, but comb jellies can do that. I'm not saying there arent any differences I just haven't found any categorical differences yet
@ there is indeed some kind of comb jelly that can fuse parts of two individuals together to create a new jelly. Comb jellies have different ways to reproduce. Some are hermaphroditic, some split a part from themselves and some do it with eggs and sperm. About the zooids. They reproduce by cloning themselves(the buds) These buds can form a new organism or stay with the original. If one zooid gets loose I guess it will die because it would be highly specialised according to its function. This doesn’t mean that a zooid is an organ. Zooids are “born” all the same as an individual with nerves (that would be a brain in humans) and are multicellular . Upon joining the cluster they transform themselves according to the function they have in the colony. They become a digestive zooid, a stinging zooid, a zooid that moves the colony through the water and so on. They are and stay all individual multicellular beings of their own. Maybe it’s easier if you look at it as an ant colony. Every zooid is an ant. The colony is the siphonophore. Each ant is a multicellular being that functions on its own. They also have different functions in the colony. Some are workers that take care of the queen, some are hunters, some are builders and some are soldiers… They just don’t change their body to suit the function they have. Some do but that’s not relevant for this example. Humans however are one being that exists of separate specialised cells (blood, tissue, fat …) that are no being by them selves. They are single celled and together they are a human. An organ also exists out of single cells.These cells are a part of us and can’t live outside our body. Zooids also exist out of single cells that can’t live outside of their body. A single zooid can survive on its own if it is a new born unspecialised bud. This bud can clone itself and then those buds together become a new siphonophore. It’s kinda weird. Maybe you should look into the life cycle of the Medusa. It’s a fascinating creature that is.
i used to collect specimens on dives and either keep them in my aquarium for a week or give them to my biology teacher. i found one once that took the skin off my finger tips. on research i found out it excreted sulphuric and hydrochloric acid. ive forgotten its name that was years ago
Quick correction: sea bunny “carophyllidia” is actually “caryophyllidia”. I guess I misread it while researching and my brain just omitted the first “y”?? my b
Happens to all of us, i can't spell lasnaga so-
Also, you should check out this game called Rain World, i think you'd like the little beasts :3
Can you please spin my comment?
lol,I read this like 5 times to tell the difference
Love your vids! I use them with our homeschool lessons for my teen whenever I can. We both enjoy watching them!
You should do some merch with the sea slugs similar to Pokémon. I don´t know, like a shirt that features some of your favorites. And, hopefuly, it sells well and you can keep them coming with new sea slugs on every new shirt.
I indeed did enjoy these sea slugs.
hihi osc fan
No way you’ve finished it
I indeed haven’t, but I love these sea slugs, because they are colorful.
Slugterra
Yes
"You are what you eat." Well, not quite. Many years ago I was at the Whole Earth Show at UC Davis. Wavy Gravy was the master of ceremonies. He opened up the show by saying, "You aren't what you eat. You are what you don't shit back out."
davis mentioned lol
@@MarengiOmnisystemsthat’s actually a really dope explanation.
hell yeah uc davis mention
7:41 my senior year of high school the fall musical was the little mermaid. I was cast as a sea slug, so I chose to be Glaucus atlanticus with my makeup.
The Blue Dragon eating the Man'oWar is the greatest flex anything an inch long has ever done
I happen to have a few one inch long flexes myself 😎
my ex would beg to differ 💁🏼♀️🙊
@@corrugatedmetal6598rofl, totally came here to say that. 😂
they don't just eat em, they steal their weapons and look hella flash doing it
And yet they run most governments. 😊❤
Sea slugs have always been a favorite for me! Here’s some of my favs that weren’t mentioned:
Pikachu nudibranch
Chromodoris annae
Chromodoris willani
Phyllidia varicosa
Clione limacine
Nembrotha kubaryana
Phylliroe bucephalum
and Chromodoris luteorosea
And Nembrotha cristata!!
@ that’s a good one too :D
I'm sorry, PIKACHU nudibranch? I gotta search that up. I did not regret searching it up.
Okay I’m a cell person. Firstly that article is pretty wild. Summery (best I understand, sea slug genomes are not my wheelhouse), is that the genes required for supporting chloroplast are not passed vertically (from parent to offspring), but rather sea slugs have this gene (psbO gene) that acts as a transposon that targets the HGT gene in algae and incorporates it into the non-germ cells of sea slugs! I have a friend who has a micro PhD focusing on algae so I might run it by him and see what he thinks! Thanks for the video!
So, in short, they are born with a "genetic theft kit" that lets them steal the "how to take care of chloroplast" recipe from the alge they eat? That's several kinds of wild all at once!
Can you update this if you hear from your friend? Now I'm really curious about this
I really enjoy the phrase "I'm a cell person" I think I'll use that when I'm next feeling cell filled
I'm hijacking your comment cause I really like endosymbionts and the way that the slugs use them is actually super cool!
For a bit of background, plastids are basically plant mitochondria, they're photosynthetic bacteria that got taken up really far back on the evolutionary tree, losing parts of their genome (stuff that protects them from predators or allows motility) and transferring other parts to their host. The paper sequenced the genomes of E. chlorotica and the alga they eat, V. litorea. V. litorea plastids have most of the genes they need to function without aid from the host genome, but they're missing an important gene in their metabolism that splits off oxygen from water, which they get from the genome of V. litorea. This gene was found in E. chlorotica adults and eggs, which allows them to give the plastids the genes they need to function. It's not certain how this happened, but the mutation is in the germline of the slugs, i.e. it is part of the species now! The gene transfer probably resulted from them eating the algae, causing the nucleus with all its genetic material to rupture inside the cell, where it either integrated with their mitochondrial DNA or maybe even into their chromosomal DNA, although the paper didn't get to determine which. It's super cool, and is a very clear example of horizontal gene transfer between really extant species, which could be an evolutionary contributor in some cases!
@lesbian_ninetales I am far from any form a cell person but this kind of nerdy stuff is what I thrive for and the idea of animal cells that can do that is insane but cool!
Dude, I would watch a 5 hour video on the coolest nudibranchs you could find. They’re so interesting! The kleptoplast stuff is INSANE!! Did not know that was even a possibility!
The watermelon smell that the lions mane/hooded Nudibranchs give off is hella strong. As someone whose done some work in aquariums I have definitely experienced this heady aroma that honestly smells better than actual watermelons to me. It doesn't last too long, but its crazy that its strong enough to be smelt from across a large room
insane lil guys thats pretty cool
watermelon with tajin or just salt tastes godly
Would this be considered a defense mechanism in the water? Do we know why they are that way?
You can keep these in aquariums!?
@@MatthewTheWanderer yes but how I understood it- because I obviously checked that immediately ...because they're precious - its really complicated to have the water conditions right- and much more problematic is their nutrition because they're so many species and its very specific to even individuals and were they live and how their diet looks like. im not a biologist tho so I just got that its possible to have them when u kinda live close to their natural habitat- or like professional aquariums that u can visit at the zoo....but I need to say-i was in alot of different ones around germany and France and never saw them being kept here.
One of my favorite nudibranchs is the sea lemon!!! Not only are they bumpy and yellow exactly like a lemon, they SMELL LIKE CITRUS when disturbed as some kind of defense mechanism!!!
When searching for an image after reading your comment I let out an audible “O-!!!!” Fantastic creatures. 11/10
@ I’m so glad I was able to introduce you to them!!!!
prank idea: replace someone's lemon with a sea lemon
So... there's a magical place I've referenced for years called the Sea Slug Forum. Nothin but slugs. Sea slugs make a fantastic art subject! Some of my faves I think you'll like:
Okenia hallucigenia, Hermosita hakunamatata(looks gross but fun name), Limacia cockerelli, Digidentis perplexa, Tritonia festiva, and a billion others. Dude... I seriously have a bookmarks folder labeled "Sluggos" just... just full of freakin sea slugs. This video made me so happy, thank you. May you find a plethora of silly slug buddies along your life journeys.
Thank you for sharing! I looked at all of these. The last one looked like lace🤩
When was Hallucigenia a Sea Slug?
As one also enamoured by sea slugs, I introduce you to a word which may revolutionise your vernacular: slubbies. Slubbies are beloved slug babies.
@@puttiplush Slubbies!
The first name alone fittingly conjures imagery of psychedelic animals
Leaf Sheep are by far my favorite sea slug. Not only are they super cute with their tiny faces, their ability to use chloroplast is stinking rad af!
I literally said “oh HELL yeah” out loud as soon as I saw the title of this video. Sea slug appreciators rise up!!
nudis rise up!
ZeFrank is the only reason I even learned about more than the blue sea dragon
"Butt nudibranchs... sorry... but nudibranchs-"
@@kyze8284 XD
I was worried I was tho only one! YIPPEE HELL YEAH NUDIBRANCHS!!
@@slylymeNot nudibranchs, but anyone who says they don't love leaf sheep is a dirty liar.
So excited to see my little sacoglossan buddies getting some recognition! I love the Leaf sheep to such an extent even, that I wrote my thesis about solar-powered sea slugs!
I understand that you have limited time to research for these videos, but I'd like to give my two cents on the Horizontal gene transfer debate in the Kleptoplasty research community.
The fact that species like Elysia chlorotica (and others, like E. veridis, and some of the ones you mentioned as well) can keep the chloroplasts for so long is almost certainly not due to Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT). (Also, the stolen chloroplasts sometimes also get called kleptoplasts, because they're plastids that got klepto'd (=stolen)). There are a few papers that are vehemently in favour of HGT, but most of these have been refuted over time (summarized in Rauch et al 2015; Why it is time to look beyond algal genes in photosynthetic slugs). For example, the paper that will most likely show up in an initial research into kleptoplasty and the longevity of kleptoplasts is a paper by Pierce, but in one of his papers he claims that both of these phenomena are caused by HGT. He bases this claim on a transcriptomic reading (basically reading genes) of 2 in 98,238,204 reads. Yes, that is 2 reads out of 98 MILLION that COULD be a sign of HGT. For reference, if there were contamination in this transcriptomic reading, there would be more reads that could be an indication of HGT.
Furthermore, as you said, this kleptoplasty has been found in many species. Kleptoplasty itself has evolved anywhere from 3-5 separate times (which is still being researched and debated). This would make it very very statistically unlikely that kleptoplasty comes from HGT, as HGT in multicellular origanisms is already INCREDIBLY rare. The chances of it happening once is already really low, let alone that it happened 3-5 separate times in the same superorder (Sacoglossa).
Theres a multitude of different hypotheses that better support the longevity of the kleptoplasts. I'll list a few and explain it in an (hopefully) understandable way, what they do and give some of my favourite hypotheses at the end.
The slugs could be using/activating the kleptoplasts own xhanthophyll cycle (XC), this is a photoprotective reaction that is in the chloroplasts. This means that the kleptoplast is capable of reducing damage when it gets too much sunlight. Think of it as cells trying to protect the kleptoplast from getting a sunburn. However, this hypothesis can not be applied to all solar-powered slugs, as the XC needs to be a property of the algae it feeds on. Not all solar-powered slugs feed on algae that have the XC, so this hypothesis can't be applied to all solar-powered slugs.
A similar process can be found being (most likely) performed fully autonomously by the kleptoplast. It is called the D1 repair cycle. That repair cycle repairs damage in the kleptoplast if it has been damaged by receiving too much sun. Think of it as the kleptoplast getting rid of toxins produced by it getting sunburnt. This repair cycle is typical for (I think) most plants, so it wouldn't be wierd if this was a crucial part of the longevity of kleptoplasts. However, this is a pretty recent finding, so more research has to be done.
There have also been some research into the gene expression of the slugs. This hypothesis is quite a slog to research but it boils down to: the slug can up-regulate (do more) or down-regulate (do less) certain processes in its body. This would allow for the perfect environment for the kleptoplasts to be in. But yet again, more research needs to be done, as only two species have been compared to each other.
Then theres my favourite hypotheses. Parapodial phototaxis! Parapodia are the 'wings' or 'flaps' on the back of a sea slug. You can see these wings well on Elysia veridis, Elysia chlorotica, and Elysia timida. But they don't always have to be wings. For example, on Elysia crispata they look more like loose lettuce leaves! The 'phototaxis' part means that the slugs display a certain behaviour according to the light that they are in. Thus parapodial phototaxis is the slug making its parapodia move in accordance to the amount of sun it is receiving. So if it is very shady, Elysia timida will spread its parapodia so that it can use its photosynthesis even though its very dim, without harming the kleptoplasts. If the slugs are in a very bright environment, they will close their parapodia, shading them from the harmful and harsh sun. Other species like Elysia crispata, Plakobranchus ocellatus, and Thuridilla hopei (a really pretty one!) exhibit this bahaviour too!
Some species will instead just display phototaxis. Thus, they just move their entire body into a place where they feel like the sun gives a comfortable amount of energy.
Wooow, that was a longer comment than I thought it would be, but I'm just very excited to be able to talk about my thesis any chance I get.
If anyone has any questions I'll try my best to answer them, but keep in mind that this research is fairly new. It's just that (in my opinion) we can certainly say that HGT is NOT playing any role in these mysterious creatures.
I'd love to help make a video on this topic, but I also understand that it is a hyperspecific topic that not everyone will be interested in (even though you can show some of these amazing sacoglossans off on screen).
Hey hey I would love to know all about your thesis, I’m an undergrad and I love sea slugs, do you have any of the papers you were referencing?
Thanks for taking the time to explain. Nature is so endlessly fascinating and mysterious.
where can i read your thesis?
Very COOL, Blue Dragon is just unreal. I didn’t realize how small they are! IDEA for a videos JUMPING SPIDERS! Tiny, CUTE, FRIENDLY and absolutely amazing biology! There are now theories out there that they may actually DREAM! How their eyes work is amazing!
They're weirdly intelligent, too, considering their brains are so small. They make for great pets, too!
Yes please 😄
I LOVE SEA SLUGS
I believe @LindsayNikole is not awfully sanguine about arachnids, but I'm sure she'll take one for the team.
Yaaaaa frrr
Lindsay: "Some are objectively cute."
My brain: "I doubt it."
(sees picture of sea slug)
My brain: "Aw, look at that little guy!"
I already love sea slugs so this video is a treat
I like sea slugs
regretivator
yes im a huge nudibranch enthusiast
Agreeed :)
and so are the sea slugs 🤤🍽
Sea slugs were the first thing I ever did an image search for. It was magical to suddenly have a screen full of them right in front of me
Great idea
5:06 Fun fact: Those nematocyst hold the craziest record in the animal kingdom, imo. This thread gets shot out with an acceleration so large, it would be enough to counter the gravitational pull on the surface of a neutron star (ie. 5.4 MILLION g).
What?! That's hard to comprehend 😮
So neutron stars could also be poisonous - just keeps getting better and better
Damn, the one place I thought I was safe.
think of it this way: it's the only weapon that works on neutron stars.
ergo, neutron stars must be full of cnidarians and nudibranchs!
@@alveolate😢, they're probably terrifying. Lol.
Used to be an Animal Jam kid and one of the interactive games was a tide pool like they have at aquariums where you could touch things. You'd get a reward for touching one of each creature at the end. One of things you were able to touch was the Blue Dragon sea slug.
This was a game run from *National Geographic*, who probably should have known better than to encourage 6-12 year olds to touch a Blue Dragon.
Omg I used to play the tide pool game for hours!
@@maskedmallard537 Same, it was honestly so addicting. That and the sandcastle game where you had to make a moat/stream from the shore to the castle. Loved that shit back in the day
In a D&D game that I am worldbuilding for, I turned the Blue Dragon Sea Slug into an actual aquatic dragon in the world, going to be taking inspiration from some of these other delightful little guys for more worldbuilding.
Incorporating real life science and history concepts into my worldbuilding is my genuinely one of my favorite things, it’s such a delight
As a PF2e GM predominantly, the BattleZoo Bestiary released by a third party comes to mind with a giant blue sea dragon in it. It also has a 5e version. I don't own the 5e books by Roll for Combat so I can't tell you much about that statblock though.
@7337blackwolf me and a friend were trying to figure out blood types for elves and such, it is a lot of fun mixing science with fantasy
@bobthet-rex2718 One of my favorite examples of this was figuring out the genetics behind dragonborn color inheritance. Like, if two dragonborn of different types had a kid, what color & breath weapon would result. Since scale color & breath weapons are genetically linked (maybe on the same locus?), I decided colors with the same breath weapon could mix (red & gold scales on the same person for example), but colors with different weapons can't. You end up with the color & weapon of just one of your parents, not a blend.
I did NOT go so far as to determine dominance order or anything like that. But now I might need to because that sounds fascinating
@@7337blackwolf dominant and recessive genes are a ton of fun but also such a deep rabbit hole. I was working on explaining the intersections of Genasi genetics and how it impacts other genes as they are a half species, and it is so interesting.
Also, may I propose the current question boggling my mind, how does one sequence a Changelings genetic code into that of a species, do they change down to such a genetic level, if so, does that mean that they operate similarly to the Horizontal Gene Transfer that a lot of bacteria exhibit like what was mentioned in the video.
i love the complete lack of clickbait. this vid was literally just sea slugs. and i did like them. thank you lindsay.
My favorite sea slug is elysia marginata. It can decapitate itself and grow a whole new body including a new heart. Thats fucking insane and so cool! It also uses kleptoplasty and looks cute
I looked this up and oh my god. when the images loaded I had the same reaction as a dog who's getting riled up with "you wanna go for walkies????" 😂 they're awesome, thanks for sharing!
Nudibranchs are definitely some of the more fascinating animal groups to talk about, simply because of how varied and wild their adaptations can be. One of the more fascinating sea slugs that was not mentioned in this video has to be Phylliroe bucephala, which is a nudibranch that has evolved a body plan of a fish to adapt to pelagic environments, a remarkable example of convergent evolution.
THAT IS SO COOL!!!!!
Just when the world needed her most, she returned! Sleeve is looking sick too!
nudibranches are my favorite animals!! I did one of my college art finals making surrealist paintings on several types of nudibranches and their evolutionary characteristics as literal aspects (air sacs allowing sea dragons to float on the surface to eat cnidarians being literally lifted by balloons, sacoglossan "blending in" with monarch wings, aeolid having literal jellyfish parts built into them). It's one of my favorite creative projects I've done and it's so cool to see all these critters highlighted here!!
Dont know why but i love how your delivery style is like a fun zoology Christopher Walken cadence.
i hid this uncomfortable nudibranch - up my ass - for two years. and now - little man - i give it to you
Thank you. Lindsay and Christopher are obviously awesome, I just hadn't made the connection.
Elysia Chlorotica, got me 4 A's acrossed 3 classes, inspired a character for my dnd campaign, and at least 1 A that I wrote for a "friend" so they had leeway for a movie date.
Ultimately, my dive into the eastern emerald resulted in 5 A's, some pearl diving and a home run.
Go hybrid plant/animals.
Good luck with the tattoo, it looks awesome!
thank you !!
@@LindsayNikoleYou can always take a look into numbing cream. My friend got her neck done and said it was a lifesaver
@@LindsayNikole I got a tattoo in the same area (L arm) and it was AWFUL. I didn't have the option to split it up, because I was a seven hour drive from home and leaving the next day. Regrets were felt.
hire an anaesthesiologist and bring em along next time
@@LindsayNikole I highly recommend Painless Tattoo numbing cream! It was the only way I was able to get through my second sessions for my full chest tattoo.
5:32 so you’re basically telling me Kirby exists and it’s a sea slug
Very cool tattoos Lindsay. Nudibranches are so cool and beautiful. Nice to see them get more love.
Very awesome tatoos lindsy😍
Nice Mr. Bungle profile pic! ;)
@@moss_quartz Thanks 😀
I wanna be a zoologist when i grow up because i have a special interest in animals since i could remember (im autistic) and i randomly found this channel and its just reinforcing my belief that anything animal related gives me joy because WHATEVER video i watch its just AAAAAAAAAAAAA so thank u for giving cool animal things to our brains
Was very disappointed years ago when I learned that nudibranchs were so tiny. Like, I wasn't expecting them to be as big as Lindsay, but still, to learn that the 1/4-page photo of one in a book was vastly magnified was still a bit of a "aww, dang." moment.
Despair not. There are larger sea bunnies. The sea hare Lindsay mentions in her video (30-40cm or so) is one of them. And they are very cool. The sea hare spurts out violet ink when attacked, and can swim, oh and it's mildly toxic too.
@@neuforteils4479 I was more disappointed in the blue dragons being tiny, knowing that sea bunnies can get bigger than land bunnies is ... kinda disturbing in a way I don't like.🐇
oh man, this is PERFECT! i've been writing a fantasy comic, and i've been using sea creatures as inspiration for flora and fauna designs.
awesome as always, dude!
My weird little Glaucus fact is that they live upside down, so you can argue that the sea surface is, to them, the 'ground' with the depths of the abyss being their 'sky'.
In college I did this report on different plant pathogens. Parasitic plants were a part of that, like Rafflesia arnoldii. the plant that looks like the Pokémon gloom. It also uses horizontal gene transfer to go unnoticed by its host plant, the tetrastigma vine
My daughter is an animal lover - all animals - doesn't matter if most ppl would find something ugly, she finds the beauty in it. We started sharing pictures of sea slugs a few years back, including the Sea Bunny and Leaf Sheep Sea Slug. I can't wait to show her this video. Keep up the great work Lindasy!
13:14 never heard a sadder sentence
My favourite sea slugs are the flabellinas esp. the purple ones. I saw them on one of my first real scuba dives when I was 12 and they immediately became my faves. Also the name is just adorable
2:18 I agree with this green fellow! Sunbathing is great thing to keep us fulfilled!
I had to share the leaf sheep sea slug with a friend, because it's ridiculously delightful. She already knew about them and told me they can decapitate themselves, then regrow their bodies! She then shared a link to a video in which Hank Green tells me more about leaf sheep sea slugs (via Bizarre Beasts)! Which somehow makes me even happier that Lindsay and Hank are doing a SciShow deep dive together (and somewhat worried about how much RUclips I'm watching). :)
Fun fact: Unlike their sea slug cousins, land slugs do not enjoy saltwater.
Also, I'm imagining a mermaid with portugese man o'war tentacle hair. Or maybe a cap.
The audible gasp i made at the man o war hat
Oh my god they could have a blue dragon (or many) as a pet bc fantasy logic could mean that they are immune to the toxin of man o war and therefore immune to the blue dragon
The sea slug. Not to be confused with a land slug. And their behbehs.
@@roryandbro1561 I absolutely love that!!! They are an icon 😭
@@scottydu81 Ze Frank reference!! 🗣🗣🗣
7:43 okay actually love the reference to the minor god Glaucus, god of fishermen. Was pulled into ocean by very big fish on line, became blue mermaid dude that looks exactly like this. 10/10 no notes
OMG a sea bunny! Thank you for showing me this. adorable as FUUUUUUUUUUCK
Nudibranchs have been my favorite animal since I learned about them in a high school marine science class and when I tell you I was SO EXCITED when I saw the title
As someone who already ADORES nudibranchs and sacoglossan slugs and just sea slugs in general because they are objectively THE COOLEST, this is a fantastic day. Sea slug enjoyers RISE UP 💪
Update: have now watched the video and while Glaucus Atlanticus has been my #1 favorite animal for a very long time, you introduced me to SO MANY new cuties,; this is the best video ever
I love Nudibranchs. Years ago when I was surf fishing all the time in the Santa Barbara, Goleta CA area I would often see several species of them together in the tide pools. They always caught my attention right away because they were so vibrant and beautiful compared to most of the other sea life around them.
5:54 Please don't use that sound effect again, I lived in a college dorm last year for my freshman year and when I heard that I immediately got Vietnam flashbacks from the sheer amount of times someone overcooked ramen/microwaveable macaroni or pulled the alarm probably for a stupid frat ritual/initiation rite. Jokes aside, another great video! 👍
Also, speaking of toxic animals, can you do a video on toxic birds like my favorite animal, the pitohui, bc they're beautiful, but we can't touch them, unfortunately?
You can touch captive ones. The toxic plant they consume isn't available in captivity so the lost that defense mechanism😬
@@WildAbsolLvl.29 They're insectivorous; they don't eat plants. One possible source of the toxin is a certain beetle. You still have a point though, as they likely wouldn't have access to the beetle in captivity.
The sea slug talks are the best thing about being a bio student in uni, everyone knows about them and everyone loves to talk about them
9:10 This has actually just been done. Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga at the University of Tokyo created animal cells capable of photosynthesis
What's the ETA on me being able to become moss?
Did a high school art project on sea slugs. I made three slightly bigger than a hand sculptures and everyone loved them, especially the other teachers. It also got me the “best student in class” award so sea slugs are universally awesome!
Lindsay, the Leaf Sheep gotta be the COOLEST animal you have introduced. How can an animal be both plant AND animal at the same time???? And some of them actually cultivate their chloroplasts that they harvested??? That’s just beyond me, it’s like if someone shows you a plant that not only gets energy from sunlight, but also peanut butter you spread on their leaves…
I was waiting for the dusky nembrotha aka Nembrotha kubaryana lol it's as cute as the sea sheep slug but way more vibrant and striped! Nudibranchs are so cool
Omg I never put it together until literally just now, but does "branch" in anatomy usually refer to gills while "bronch" refers to lungs?? God I love science words so much. Language is so cool :)
It seems like the "bronch" root comes from the Latin word "bronchia", which in turn comes from the Greek word "bronkhia", which is just the plural form of "brónkhos" - Greek for "windpipe"
@@B0bb217 Oooh that's super cool; ty for telling me more!! The ways that languages evolve are so fascinating to me :D
Flabellina rubrolineata!!! A bright pink aeolid nudibranch that might actually be multiple species (genetic sequencing pending). I personally prefer the form that's more pale teal and purple, but those sunset colors are SO striking
I love how I can hear your video titles in your voice in my head. You are a treasure 💜
i looove sea bunnies and leaf slugs! nudibranchs in general are hella shaped from what i've seen, but those are just, uuuugh, most adorable little guys ever. and the fact that another name for leaf slugs is *leaf sheep* just kills me, dear lord 💚💚
12:30 Taking 'just the tip' to the next level.
100% onboard with Sea Snowflake. “You think you’re special, that you’re one of a kind and so amazing? Because guess what?! YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT YOU ARE.”
my favorite sea slug besides the ones that can host chloroplasts like you mention are the Phylliroe, a sea slug that convergently evolved to have a body plan similar to fish and is an open ocean hunter of jellies.
Estatic for this video thankyou. I have been blessed with one of my favourite species. And how can you not be in awe of that beauty and adaptability as a soft bodied little guy. You go nature!
leaf sheeps just became my new favorite animal
7:32 Once I went to a beach and there was like thousands of blue dragons washed up in the sand I wasn't wearing shoes and so anxious the whole time that i gets stung
11:33 “cell shit” absolutely true. cellular stuff is inherently, difficult and complicated. Please do not feel bad.
Leaf Sheep!!! As a plant fan that whole group of slugs are so cool. It would be so cool to eat some plants and then be able to vibe in the sunlight photosynthesizing for a while.
The Blue Glaucus (Blue Dragon) is one of my favorites alongside the Sea Bunny.
perfect timing! i just bought a giant crocheted sea slug plushie at a craft fair!
Always super excited when nudibranchs get the love they deserve. 🎉
VERY excited for the whale fall video ngl
TONS of cool timelapse footage of these sorts of things
If you want to see a weird tangential representation of it though, the Felix Colgrave/Wombot animation _Donks_ does a pretty good job
I mentioned the photosynthesizing slugs to my biology teacher a week ago, I’m gonna show her this video as proof. Thanks Lindsay!
SO GLAD WE TALKING ABOUT SEA SLUGS! As a big ass nerd about Nudibranchs, yes they are my favorites! I love them, absolutely WILD AF little critters with gorgeous colors, and such variation in designs. Nature was cooking on these guys, And I am forever grateful for it. Love these funky lil guys.
An animal being able to produce chloroplasts genuinely blew my mind that’s so badass
I think it’s also cool that some of those sea slugs change color based on what they eat. Like how they take the poison or plants and store it they do it with pigment.
I lost it when I saw this in my subscription box. I’ve been in love with sea slugs for so long I’m glad they’re getting the attention they deserve!!!
Sea slugs are my favorite animals! There’s a species of sea slug, I think a sacoglossan - which is able to regenerate its entire body! If it’s head is kept in tact, it can regrow its entire body. I imagine it’s because of its ability to photosynthesize it can stay alive that way. Pretty sick.
0:22 what is the lore?????
She worked with them in Africa
She worked in Africa on a sanctuary for college and after for a bit I do believe? Something along those lines
Y’all are missing the most crucial part!!! She got her favorite cheetah tattoo’d on her.
ya she has a few videos on it but she worked at a sanctuary in Africa. Iirc it’s why she made animals her career and she got to know some personally and got one tattoo’s on her. so that’s why they’re the Lore favorite animal
Some cheetah lore: by estimates based on genetic analysis, the species has gone through at least two drastic bottleneck events in the last 100000 years that sharply reduced their numbers and genetic diversity, leading to some phenotypic quirks, such as asymmetrical skulls, that are present in most if not all cheetahs currently alive.
If I recall correctly the lineage of all currently living cheetahs are descendants of an estimated group of only 6 individuals.
Unfortunately cheetahs are going through another bottleneck event in the modern era and are threateningly close to extinction.
I've always liked the Blue Dragon ever since I heard about it some 30ish years ago. This was a great episode! I love your energy, wish I had even a portion of that still lol.
Yay, I love sea slugs, so I'm glad you're talking about them 🎉
I'm a dive instructor and regularly see the Lettuce Leaf Nudis on our dives. We also get the Regal Goddess in our area, and this year we started seeing a new Nudibranch but are not sure what species it is. Very small ( 1 inch max ) Red with white tips. Cool to find and show my students. Great video!
I'M SO HAPPY YOU DID A VIDEO ON NUDIBRANCHS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEY'VE BEEN MY FAVORITE ANIMALS FOR YEARS AND YEARS THEY'RE SO GREAT GRAHHHHH
I guess I need to admit, after watching your video sea slugs (and sea slug adjacent organisms) are now my favorite animals! ❤
i recently started my grad program at a lab studying sea slugs (mostly sacoglossans) so it was very fun to see this video appear on my feed! nice break from the assignment i’m working on
Awesome! Keep up the great (and hopefully super fun) work! I want to do something like that too!
As a sea slug connoisseur I highly approve of this video. Apparently some kleptoplastic sea slugs can, in case of tumours or parasites within their bodies, twist their heads off and survive off photosynthesis alone until they grow a new body. Wild.
I am ENAMOURED with sea slugs! They are so beautiful and cute and awesome. There are so, so many different types, but they all fit a different niche. It is unfortunate that you really can't keep them as pets because of how specialized their diets are.
I like to make up my own sea slug designs to draw; they're so varied in real life, who's to say something I make up doesn't already exist?
I must add my favorites nudibranches here! Big fan of Spanish Shawl because of their stunning color and California Chromodorid. Generally a fan of the dorid nudibranch in general.
That California one is to DIE FOR🤩
@@zebra24-7 I am so glad that someone agrees!
@11:57 the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. 🫡
Go Lindsay! Love your vids. Met a bunch of Sea Hares (Aplysia fasciata) a while ago while free diving. They were a group of all sizes just chilling on the sandy bottom of the sea. They are very cool aquatic bunnies.
WOW WOW WOW
I love these little dudes. The Frosted Nudibranch is my favorite.
Wow so beautiful!! They look like glass🤩 my favorite are nembrotha cristata
HEY GURL, THANKS FOR FILLING MY BRAIN WITH KNOWLEDGE 👹👹
Absolutely agree, these are all cute and cool. But I squeal every time I see a leaf sheep! Love your videos!
As a cell/molecular person these sea slugs are fuckin' awesome. Very cool looking and incredibly unique adaptations.
HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED THE VIDEO BUT I'M SO HYPE; NUDIBRANCHS WERE ALREADY ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVES
when i was little i found a blue dragon in a tidepool and picked it up, that night i got a minor rash so my parents looked up the blue dragon and discovered that it must'nt've eaten in a while and i was lucky not to get stung any worse
WE NEED MORE SEA SLUGS PLEASE!!! LIKE A FULL DEEP DIVE ON THE EVOLUTION OF THEM THAT WE KNOW OF
I had freshwater nematodes I got from middle school science class that would clean the glass in a guppy tank once…it’s about as close as I’ve ever gotten to a sea slug. So this video is cool, they looks like something Dr. Seuss would draw in a coloring book while hallucinating.
The leaf sheep nudibranch is the cutest thing ever! I already loved blue dragons, and sea bunnies.
A Portuguese Man’o War is indeed in the the phylum Cnidaria. They are no Jellyfish though. Man’o War are Hydrozoa, more specific Siphonophores. It’s a colony of Zooids that are genetically the same but have all their own speciality in the function of the organism.
whats the difference between that and a multicellular full organism rather than a colony?
@@Sepi-chu_loves_moths Separate multicellular organisms fusing into one hivemind.
@@Sepi-chu_loves_moths every zooid is an organism that is multicellular. A bunch of these zooids form a colony and each zooid specialises in order to sustain the colony. Some become part of the digestive system, some become part of the reproductive system… Each individual can grow “buds” or other zooids to become a colony…
We are not a colony. We are a multi cellular being just like a single zooid. Our cells can’t live outside our body and can’t reproduce . We also can’t become a colony by sticking several people together.
@lilitheden748 correct me if im wrong, but I don't think zooids can survive on their own. Since they lack the main floating zooid, they just sink to the seafloor. And since they don't have the other zooids (the reproductive parts, or the food collection, or digestion) they can't survive, let alone successfully reproduce. However, many invertebrates/plants can have parts cut off and survive and reproduce to produce another organism. So then what's the difference between an individual zooid and an organ, for example the branch of a plant? Especially since their buds are genetically identical. And we may not be able to create a human by melding several humans together, but comb jellies can do that.
I'm not saying there arent any differences I just haven't found any categorical differences yet
@ there is indeed some kind of comb jelly that can fuse parts of two individuals together to create a new jelly. Comb jellies have different ways to reproduce. Some are hermaphroditic, some split a part from themselves and some do it with eggs and sperm.
About the zooids. They reproduce by cloning themselves(the buds) These buds can form a new organism or stay with the original. If one zooid gets loose I guess it will die because it would be highly specialised according to its function. This doesn’t mean that a zooid is an organ. Zooids are “born” all the same as an individual with nerves (that would be a brain in humans) and are multicellular . Upon joining the cluster they transform themselves according to the function they have in the colony. They become a digestive zooid, a stinging zooid, a zooid that moves the colony through the water and so on. They are and stay all individual multicellular beings of their own. Maybe it’s easier if you look at it as an ant colony. Every zooid is an ant. The colony is the siphonophore. Each ant is a multicellular being that functions on its own. They also have different functions in the colony. Some are workers that take care of the queen, some are hunters, some are builders and some are soldiers… They just don’t change their body to suit the function they have. Some do but that’s not relevant for this example.
Humans however are one being that exists of separate specialised cells (blood, tissue, fat …) that are no being by them selves. They are single celled and together they are a human. An organ also exists out of single cells.These cells are a part of us and can’t live outside our body. Zooids also exist out of single cells that can’t live outside of their body. A single zooid can survive on its own if it is a new born unspecialised bud. This bud can clone itself and then those buds together become a new siphonophore. It’s kinda weird. Maybe you should look into the life cycle of the Medusa. It’s a fascinating creature that is.
i used to collect specimens on dives and either keep them in my aquarium for a week or give them to my biology teacher. i found one once that took the skin off my finger tips. on research i found out it excreted sulphuric and hydrochloric acid. ive forgotten its name that was years ago