Word To Use Today: nudibranch.

Many of us are stuck in our homes at the moment, so here's a real challenge: with any luck it'll take our minds out of the box, even if our bodies are stuck in one.

Can you use the word nudibranch today?

A nudibranch is, as you might have guessed, something nude. The branch part of the word is nothing to do with trees, but comes from the Latin word branchia, which means gills.

Any idea what it is, yet?

Well, here we are:


This nudibranch is called a Regal Sea Goddess. Photo by Grey McFall

Can you tell what it is, or do you need more clues? 


This one, wonderfully, is called Chromodoris joshi. Photo by Nhobgood (Nick Hobgood)

I think the thing on its back that looks like a yellow sea anemone are the naked gills.

One more:


This is another fantastic image by Nick Hobgood of a Smiling Armina nudibranch.

There are about three thousand different types of nudibranch, and they include clown, marigold, dancer and dragon types. What riches!

There we are. Some true beauty to light up your day wherever you are. 

And I suppose that if we can find beauty in a slug (because a nudibranch is basically a sea slug) then we can find beauty in everything.

It's just that sometimes we just forget to look.

Word To Use Today: nudibranch. The nudi- bit of this word comes from the Latin nūdus, naked.