Devon enthusiast explains why she loves 'jazzed up' sea slugs
"Sea slugs are like normal slugs you find in your garden but jazzed up," Eleanor Goodman says.Ms Goodman, a Devon Wildlife Trust volunteer based at Wembury Marine Centre, said she was passionate about sea slugs because they are "one of the most colourful rock pool species you will find".She said there were more than 1000 species of the creatures, also called nudibranch, and they were a lot smaller than terrestrial slugs.The intertidal enthusiast spends much of her time trying to find them on the shoreline and says they are "absolutely stunning".
Ms Goodman, whose day job is a marine officer for Natural England, said the invertebrates can be found anywhere on rocky shores and down to the subtidal zones.Many of them line along the south coast because the waters are a "little bit milder" and tended to be relatively sheltered, she said. "Sea slugs love gullies, kelp forests and seaweed and they have a wide range of habitats."The 27-year old said people had to be "lucky" to see the colourful species because the smaller ones are only a couple of millimetres and the larger ones measure a couple of centimetres. "What I normally do is get right down, nose to the water and bottom in the air," she said. "If you have got a good pair of eyes and patience, anyone will be able to see them."
Ms Goodman said she was passionate about all marine life, but there was something special about sea slugs. "There is something really lovely in slowing down, being patient and getting your eye in and looking very closely at rock pools."I didn't even know sea slugs were a thing when I first started rock pooling, I thought it was just crabs and starfish."They are absolutely stunning- I just love them."
In 2022 a rainbow sea slug was discovered in the Isles of Scilly which was neon purple, pink and yellow. She said there was also another species named the Disco Doris which looks like "70s wallpaper"."It's like a slug going to a rave," she said. "They are just so gorgeous, they come in a wide range of colours and definitely one of the most colourful rock pool species you will find."
Ms Goodman said most of them had highly specialised diets. She said: "Mostly feed on anemones, seaweeds and marine algae, hydroids and bryozoans, and other sea slugs and sea slug eggs."It is her mission to find as many species of sea slugs as possible and anyone who finds one should record them on iNaturalist to add data to the biodiversity network."Some sea slugs are climate change indicators," Ms Goodman added."Some come from the Mediterranean and they are migrating northwards, expanding their ranges so it is nice to paint a picture of how the seas might be warming and how that might change our waters."
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