Crowned Nudibranch

Image: John Turnbull
Polycera capensis

Crowned in tentacles, that is.

Which is, of course, the best kind of crown.

Image: Richard Ling

Crowned Nudibranches are amazing sea slugs native to the coast of southern Africa. These days they're also found off parts of Australia. Presumably some eggs were attached to the underside of a boat and got taken over by accident. Something like that.

Or maybe the Australian government had some Crowned Nudibranches imported so as to increase their standing in the international tentacles-per-slug index. It helps with tourism, I'm sure.

Image: Peter Southwood

Crowned Nudibranches are only about 5 cm (2 in) long but they're extremely conspicuous. Which is why they're also known as Conspicuous Polyceras.

They have black rhinophores for sniffing out their favourite food, bryozoans of the genus Bugula, and black gills for absorbing their favourite chemical element, oxygen.

Image: John Turnbull

The rest of their body is almost entirely white except for black stripes and... well, that's where the fun starts!

There's a kind of yellow, tentacle tail. Their gills are adorned on either side by yellow tentacles that rise like obelisks, as if to grant life-giving oxygen a suitable welcome. And then, the crowning glory, half a dozen yellow tentacles that stretch out from their face like golden sun rays.

Image: Wilhelm

Which leaves only one question: should we paint the Statue of Liberty's spiky crown yellow or gold?

Maybe her gown should be white with black stripes, too.