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One of San Diego’s most fascinating underwater denizens is the lion nudibranch.

What is a “nudibranch” you may ask? It comes from the two words, Latin and Greek, respectively, meaning “naked gill” and it is the marine country cousin, so to speak of the common garden slug, but much more colorful. It is called “naked gill” due to the fact that in nudibranchs, the gills are external to the body.

The lion nudibranch, is a predatory sea slug which grows up to 4 inches long, with an expanded hood about 3 inches, which expands out into the water to catch microplankton in the water.

See below for more: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-38501-San-Diego-Scuba-Diving-Examiner~y2010m2d12-San-Diego-marine-life-lion-nudibranchs-in-La-Jolla