Photo of the Day
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August 8, 2009
Translucent Nudibranch
This Month in Photo of the Day: Animals
Built to feed exclusively on corals like this spindly gorgonian, a translucent 1.7-inch-long (4.3-centimeter-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.
See more photographs from the June 2008 feature story "Living Color."
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