Last week I was able to get away for a quick overnight camping trip and since I went by one of my favorite docks, I had to stop and see what was around. There are many organisms which are always there when dockfouling, but many others are seasonal and nudibranchs are no exception. As I crawled along the many docks, it was quickly apparent that this is Shaggy Mouse (Aeolidia papillosa) season. They were on every dock I checked and not only that, but most of them were with eggs. In some places I found several groups of eggs together. I also found a few Thick-horned Nudibranchs (Hermissenda crassicornis) and a single White & Orange Tipped Nudibranch (Antiopella fusca).
Kelly Brenner
Kelly Brenner is a naturalist, writer and artist based in Seattle. She is the author of THE NATURALIST AT HOME: Projects for Discovering the Hidden World Around Us and NATURE OBSCURA: A City’s Hidden Natural World from Mountaineers Books, a finalist for the Washington State Book Awards and Pacific Northwest Book Awards. She writes articles about natural history and has bylines in Crosscut, Popular Science, National Wildlife Magazine and others. On the side she writes fiction.
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Kelly BrennerJuly 24, 2023