Background
This series of slides showing nudibranch predation
on a sea pen was taken May 11, 1988, at a depth of 42 ft, in Puget Sound. The
nudibranch (Tritonia festiva) was about 4 inches long and was moving up
current, against a 0.5 kt current. The sea pen (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) is a
juvenile, maybe about 4-5 years old, and is about 6 inches long. The sequence
was taken as fast as my strobes would recycle and I could refocus, which took
about 30 seconds. It probably took about 4 to 5 minutes for all nine shots.
Photos and text by Ron Shimek,
Ph.D.