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August 31, 2024  |  By Matt Hamas

Gold Line Sea Goddess

Gold-Line Sea Goddess Live

Gold-Line Sea Goddess - iNaturalist

In order to find nudibranchs, you must slowly search the bottom

This ornate cryptic crawler is called a gold-line sea goddess. A gold-line sea goddess is a type of nudibranch. A nudibranch is a tiny sea slug. Just how tiny? Here is a photo of the gold-line sea goddess next to my finger.

Gold-Line Sea Goddess Thumb Live

Being so small, it’s no wonder most divers miss them. They only grow to an inch and a half long! In order to find nudibranchs, you must slowly search the bottom. This video gives you an understanding of how nudibranchs move about the benthic environment. You will see the gold-line sea goddess use its chemosensory organs (called rhinophores) to navigate. As you will note, there are no obvious eyes on the nudibranch. They do have tiny eyes. Nudibranchs can detect light as well as the intensity of light. It is assumed that because they have two eyes, they would also be able to determine the direction of light. Overall, they are considered to have a bad sense of sight. As you can see in this video, they rely heavily on their rhinophores for navigating.

Goatfish

Although they are tiny creatures, nudibranchs are big on color. You can easily see how this nudibranch got its name. Gold lines stripe its body, including a single outer golden line at the edge of their mantle. Their primary body colors are white and black. If you look closely, you will note occasional blue spots. 

Spadefish

Nudibranch comes from the Latin word “nudus” meaning “naked”. The second part of the term comes from Ancient Greek “brankhia” meaning “gills”. If you look closely you can see flower-like plumes on the back of the nudibranch. These are its gills, its means of breathing. 

This is the only gold-line sea goddess I’ve seen. I encountered this nudibranch while diving Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach, Florida. 

The flower-like plumes on the back of the nudibranch are its gills

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Did you know?

  • Although described as sea slugs, nudibranchs do not have shells.
  • Nudibranchs live in a variety of depths, shallow to deep. A species was discovered at over 8000 feet deep!
  • Rhinophores can detect odors.
  • Nudibranch eyes contain a lens and five photoreceptors. 
Check out some of our other stories from this iconic dive site
Harlequin Blue Sea Goddess Live
Blue Sea Goddess
Pygmy Filefish Camouflage
Pygmy Filefish
Sharptail Eel Live
Sharptail Eel
This Month's Gallery
atlantic diving florida nudibranch ocean underwater

Article by Matt Hamas

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Matt Hamas and Ben Ivers here. We are focused on fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment. We endeavor to bring you a unique perspective of the wild. Our photos are being placed here for you to enjoy. Please feel free to download any of the photos for your personal use. We are currently seeking partners for printing and developing photos.

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