Marshall Islands Sea Slugs

Our favorite close-up photo subjects are the sea slugs, including nudibranchs and their relatives in the Molluscan subclass Heterobranchia. Roughly 900 different kinds have been found in the Marshall Islands, not all of which are yet represented by pictures on this site. At the bottom of this page are links to sea slugs we have photographed outside the Marshalls.

Each of the thumbnails below takes you to another page that contains a list of thumbnails and links by scientific name. Those links lead to pics and a bit of information about each of the different species. Species were identified using a number of different reference books and papers; hovering the mouse pointer over linked references will bring up the citation in a floating window. Species not fully identified are given species numbers of our own devising that are unrelated to species numbers given in other references. More information on species numbering can be found at this link.

Size given for most Marshall Island slugs are mostly accurate, with specimens measured using a millimeter ruler, and the size under the species name generally refers to the larger specimens measured. Some measurements are estimates, with "~" indicating approimately and "<" less than. Measurements from other locations (lower links on this page) are nearly all eyeball estimates of the larger specimens seen.

Most of our slug photos were taken at Kwajalein and Enewetak Atolls, with a few taken during trips to other atolls including Bikini, Rongelap, Utirik, Ujelang, Namu and Lib Island. If not specifically stated, the photo was from Kwajalein. Contributions from other travelers in the Marshalls have added photos from the atolls of Ailinginae, Majuro, Rongelap, Ailinglaplap and Wotje. A nice survey of slugs at Rongelap Atoll by John and Lynette Flynn can be found here or through the link in the thumbnails below.

Recently added or updated pages are listed here. Although we are no longer in the Marshalls, we continue to add new material. Even after our more than 30 years of seaslug watching, others are continuing the hunt and finding previously unreported species in various Marshall Islands atolls and are sending in contributions, so this site will continue to be updated.

In addition to the sea slugs, seashell families from the Marshalls can be found here. In particular, members of the family Velutinidae are often mistaken for sea slugs.

Chromodorids	Other cryptobranch dorids	Phyllidiids
Dendrodorids	Gymnodorids	Other phanerobranch dorids
Arminaceans	Dentronotaceans	Eolids
Notaspideans	Sacoglossans	Sea Hares
Cephalaspideans	Pyramidellidae	Onchidiidae
Ellobiidae	Siphonariidae	Achatinidae
Rongelap Atoll slugs by John & Lynette Flynn

And from a few more places:

Pohnpei, Caroline Islands	Hawaiian Islands	Solomon Islands
Bali, Indonesia	California's Channel Islands	Mexico's Sea of Cortez
Lembeh Strait, Indonesia	Anilao, Batangas, Philippines

Many more slugs and lots of information about them can be found by following these links:

    The Australian Museum's Sea Slug Forum
    Mike Miller's Slug Site
    Cory Pittman and Pauline Fiene's Sea Slugs of Hawaii
    Robert Bolland's Okinawa Slug Site
    Irwin Koehler's Mediterranean Slug Site and more

These pages also link to other great nudibranch sites.

Our thanks to Cory Pittman Dr. Terrence Gosliner and Dr. Richard Willan for suggesting identifications for several species figured here. Any errors, however, are certain to be mine.

Thanks also to past and present Kwaj divers for generously providing valuable intormation and photographs to help make these pages more complete. See Contributors.

If you have comments or disagree with any identifications, don't hesitate to contact us at uwkwaj@yahoo.com. And if you're in or have been in the Marshalls and have seen species you cannot find on these pages, we'd like to hear about it.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text by Scott and Jeanette Johnson, In-Depth Images Kwajalein.

All photos are protected by copyright. Please contact uwkwaj@yahoo.com for more information on purchase, use, or redistribution of any photos.