Goniobranchus daphne

Goniobranchus daphne

Goniobranchus daphne is a common nudibranch in my area. It is supposedly an endemic species, meaning that it only exists in or originates from Australia. Like the Blue-striped Octopus and the photo of the Crested Terns, this photo was also taken last week at some rockpools near Brisbane. That means that almost everyone can explore and find nudibranchs.


In one of many branch related articles, I wrote about different brancher types, people who explore nudibranchs and their more extended relatives: opisthobranchs. There is ample to learn about these animals without even coming close to the sea where they can be met anywhere, any habitat, any depth, in any size.

Actually, similar to how hobby archaeologists study satellite maps, hobby branchers can study publications. I can only tell everybody: you would not believe what you find and how relevant it is for research. Certainly a treasure for the historians amongst you and I am happy to give hints. If you have access to the ocean, you can explore the shoreline and shallow waters, e.g. rockpools. Some branchers take a dip either by snorkelling or scuba diving - both accommodating each for finding an overlapping but different set of nudibranchs. In my outlook, I let my fantasy play and predicted a branching assisted by robots. Last month, I realised that reality had almost overtaken me when I got an email from a start-up company developing affordable submersible vehicles for exploration.


What is so exciting about nudibranchs? In my opinion, pretty much everything! What is exciting about birds? What is exciting about nature and science? Whether we realise it or not: we are all involved and depend on them. Milk comes from cows not from stores! The ocean is quite a big and diverse habitat, lots of industries and nations directly or indirectly making a living from it. Nudibranchs are an important part of the marine ecosystem and closely linked to everyone's daily lives. Take them away, and hell would break loose (a bit trivial considering that some studies found that even parasites are beneficial e.g. in birds).

Nudibranchs normally don't move far and have a fast life cycle. When food is abundant and water conditions are right, populations pike. Beautiful equilibrium finding happens, nice regularities and correlations can be observed. That makes branchs perfect bio-indicators. Since they eat and metabolise chemically interesting organisms, such as sponges, hydroids etc. pharmaceutical companies and exploitative researchers have had high stakes in them for quite some time. Research on one opisthobranch group has directly led to a HIV drug. Another group is in close focus because of their solar energy harvesting.


There are many more examples on how opisthobranchs can inspire bio-mimetic processes. That means that by observing how branchs solve certain problems, science can adapt and imitate such processes and develop various applications mankind could benefit. Research on Opisthobranchs is being blocked or hindered in Queensland, left to people who prioritise other agendas. Funds are channeled into research that is hardly interested in their specific behaviours, traits and co- and inter-dependencies. Yet, the popularity of nudibranchs can hardly be stopped.

People travel across the globe to see such animals that don't exist back home. Australia and Queensland have a lot of nudibranch species that only exist here - endemics. It can be as easy as walking along the shore to spot them. As much as I would love to go on a safari in Africa, South America or elsewhere, Australia and Queensland maybe offer some gems that are yet to be discovered. Start before the big run sets in!