Image: Brightly-Colored Headshield Sea Slug

CREDIT: Ximena Olds/Rosensteil School of Marine & Atmospheric Science at University of Miami. View full size image

This stunning image is of a headshield sea slug (Chelidonura hirundinina). The image was taken by Ximena Olds, who won the best overall category in the Rosensteil School of Marine & Atmospheric Science underwater photography contest. The RSMAS school is a part of the University of Miami. The colorful slug lives in tropical regions like the Caribbean Sea growing only up to 40 mm. The headshield slug has a characteristic broadening at the head which is used to plow beneath sand. The slugs live just underneath sand and use their well-developed sensory structures to detect prey above.