Mating Gold-Crowned Sea Goddess Nudibranchs
This past Friday, I was fortunate enough to come across this pair of beautiful gold-crowned sea goddess nudibranchs (Hypselodoris acriba) while diving off of Key Biscayne. I have never seen this species before as it is quite rare in Florida waters. To observe this pair mating was especially fortunate. If you look at about 12 o’clock in the photo, you will notice the genitalia of the slugs in the process of exchanging genetic material. Like all sea slugs, these gold crowned sea goddesses are hermaphrodites, thus any two make a viable breeding pair. This species is an obligate sponge feeder, making them very difficult to keep in a general reef aquarium. They are better off left in the ocean.
