An image of a colorful underwater animal has recently been shared online with captions identifying it as a "Spanish Dancer" jellyfish. Some users have commented that the picture is evidence of the wonders of God's creation.
Social media users have shared the photo taken by French diver Francis Le Guen. He found the underwater animal in Papua New Guinea's lagoons.
However, the photographed animal is not a jellyfish. Experts said that it is from the group of nudibranch or a type of sea slugs.
A Sea Slug, Not A Jellyfish
In an interview with Diver in 2012, Le Guen described the method he used in creating the marvelous image of the underwater creature.
He said that he used a novel artform to explore the underwater world from his computer. He narrated that cave diving inspired his images, where he decided to make digital paintings of the underwater world.
Le Guen, later on, realized that underwater landscapes were so unreal because they were natural forms that come under the laws of fractal mathematics.
"And I discovered that the software could generate quite easily the underwater mood I love. There are other fractalists but no one, as far as I know, making underwater scenes.," Le Guen said.
According to USA Today, the image shared on social media platforms is already the finished product after Le Guen applied the technology and create a masterpiece.
Although it was first described as a jellyfish, the Spanish Dancer is not a jellyfish. The engineered photo only makes it look like a jellyfish, but it belongs to the group of nudibranchs.
The Spanish Dancer nudibranch is endemic to the Pacific and Indian oceans. These sea animals have bright colors that do not resemble the picture, according to Reuters.
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What Is Spanish Dancer Nudibranch?
According to Oceana, Spanish Dancer nudibranch (Hexabranchus sanguineus) are specialized predators that prefer to eat sponges and use compounds found in their prey as defense mechanisms for their eggs.
Like all nudibranchs, they are simultaneous hermaphrodites, but they can not self fertilize because they still require a mate. Once the eggs are deposited on the reef surface, neither parents provide care, but the eggs also utilize the chemicals that adults use against predators to ward off enemies.
Spanish Dancer nudibranch could reach up to 16 inches (40 cm) and is considered the largest nudibranch and one of the largest sea slugs on Earth.
They are brightly colored and do not blend well with their surroundings. Their bright coloration signals that they are poisonous, much like dart frogs and many other species. It serves as a warning to potential predators that they do not taste good and may even make them sick.
Population trends of Spanish Dancers are unknown, but there is no evidence that human activities threaten the species. It is important Spanish Dancers are studied because they live in coral and rocky reefs that are vulnerable to changes in the ecosystem brought by human activities.
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