20th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
An aura of flamboyance

Though the shores of Mumbai are highly urbanized, they are home to many brilliantly colored animals. The animal in the photograph is an aeolid sea slug belonging to genus 'Coryphellina'. The species of this slug still remains unknown and is probably a new species to science. The image is clicked using a diffused torch light so that it can only highlight the flamboyant colors of the slug and surrounding remains darker than the subject. Another body feature which I wanted to highlight in this image is the tube like structure called 'cerata'. These are directly connected to the digestive system of a aeolid sea slug which predominantly feeds on animals which has stinging cells like hydroids, corals, zoanthids etc. And instead of digesting these stinging cells, they are send through the ceratas on the back of the sea slug, which gives them protection from their predators making the slug a venomous animal.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 11.2022
Date Uploaded: 11.2022
Photo Location: Mumbai, India
Camera: Canon EOS 70D
Copyright: © Gaurav Patil