Any diver who has explored the depths of the sea, has had the opportunity to meet these wonderful invertebrates, just look for these little creatures on the sea floor and be hypnotized by their movements, variety of colors and fragility. This group of organisms is very charismatic, to date there is a record of more than seven thousand scientific publications, where these organisms are spoken or described. Currently there are more than 2,000 species identified throughout the world, being further proof of the wonderful biodiversity that our oceans have and that is expressed in these beautiful animals. The nudibranchs are a group of mollusks that are characterized by being exclusively marine, with benthic habits (they live attached to the sea floor), as in all there are some exceptions such as the Glaucus spp, which float upside down just below the surface of the ocean, and Cephalopyge trematoides and Phylliroe bucephalum, which swim in the water column. The scientific name Nudibrancia means "with the gills bare"; Not having a shell to protect them, these small organisms have different adaptations that make them so interesting and mysterious.

As professional divers we will always have the opportunity to meet a nudibranch, so we must be very careful when diving and follow these recommendations, maintain neutral buoyancy taking great care that our fins and any part of our equipment or body touches the seabed, since that there may be a nudibranch under us or its food The importance of being careful with their food is because some special characteristic of nudibranchs is that they have highly specialized diets, they are all carnivores; If these tiny organisms can be carnivores, they can even be cannibals (they eat between the same species or from other nudibranch species). And the vast majority of nudibranchs are usually specialized predators, with diets associated with a single species (monophages), some are usually stenophages (preferring one or two species) and a very small group are usually generalists who take advantage of a series of species feed on cnidarians eg anemones, sponges, bryozoans, jellyfish, sea fans. So if we damage the bottom and its food we are indirectly damaging them.

In the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course, improve the buoyancy control techniques you learned as a novice diver and now you can navigate with greater skill underwater and admire and care for these beautiful creatures Enjoy your dives and pay attention to where you are diving, they may have been close to some wonderful nudibranch and you have not noticed.