{"id":18555,"date":"2022-08-05T09:35:47","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T07:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=120758"},"modified":"2022-08-05T09:50:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-05T07:50:29","slug":"rare-multi-coloured-sea-slug-spotted-for-first-time-in-uk-waters","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/rare-multi-coloured-sea-slug-spotted-for-first-time-in-uk-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare multi-coloured sea slug spotted for first time in UK waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Daniel Graham\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 05 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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The\u00a0spectacular\u00a0Babakina anadoni<\/em>, an\u00a0extremely rare species of sea slug, or nudibranch, has been recorded in UK waters for the first time.<\/div>\n\n
The 2cm-long nudibranch was spotted \u2013 and captured on camera \u2013 by Seasearch<\/a> volunteer Allen Murray near Melledgan, an uninhabited rock island in the Isles of Scilly, during\u00a0The Wildlife Trust\u2019s National Marine Week<\/a>.<\/div>\n\n
According to the\u00a0Cornwall Wildlife Trust and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, this member of the aeolid nudibranch family has only been recorded several times along the west coast of Spain and elsewhere in the Atlantic, but never\u00a0in UK waters.<\/div>\n\n
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The Babakina anadoni\u00a0<\/em>sighting was made near\u00a0Melledgan, an uninhabited rock island just south of St Agnes (pictured) \/Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhat an incredible find!\u201d said\u00a0Matt Slater, Marine Conservation Officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Co-ordinator of the Seasearch programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were extremely excited to hear about the sighting of this colourful nudibranch \u2013 a species that we believe has never been recorded in the UK before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the prettiest sea slugs I\u2019ve seen and, given its less than half the size of your little finger, it\u2019s amazing Allen spotted it at all! There\u2019s still so much out there that we don\u2019t know about our marine environment. Records like this from our Seasearch divers are vital in helping us understand and better protect our seas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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