Spanish Dancer

The Spanish Dancer is a large and colourful nudibranch. A marine gastropod mollusc, it belongs to the same taxonomic class as slugs and snails and lives on coral or rocky reefs in nature. With a scientific name that literally means “blood coloured six gills”, this nudibranch can swim for short periods of time. Flapping its appendages, it resembles a flamenco dress in motion as it undulates while swimming. Usually found in a mottled red colour, it can contain hints of white, orange, or pink. In the absence of eyes, it will use two tentacles on top of its head as sensory organs to help it locate food, and others of its kind. 

The Spanish Dancer is most active at night and is a carnivore that primarily feeds on sponges but also on other molluscs, echinoderms and tunicates . After consuming a sponge in the Halichondra family, it can produce a toxin that is a deterrent to predators and passes this toxin down to any future eggs to keep them safe also. That, along with their bright colouring, is a warning to potential predators. 

This member of the Hexabranchidae family is a hermaphrodite but needs another of its kind to reproduce. Eggs are deposited in ribbons that are coiled amongst rocks or corals, resembling ribbons or rosettes.

Caution: This species secretes or releases toxins when stressed or injured that may kill fish in the aquarium. LiveAquaria.com cannot accept responsibility for any loss that may occur should this animal poison the aquarium.