The colourful underwater world of Nudibranchs

No, they are not jelly candies... they are Nudibranchs, probably the most colorful creatures in this world. These amazing sea animals are members of one suborder of soft-bodied, shell-less marine mollusks, which are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms. Scientists have discovered more than 3000 species of these little moving rainbows but probably other thousands still have to be discovered. They vary in adult size from 2 to 60 cm and thay are carnivorous and sometimes cannibals of their own species. Their wonderful colours are due to the loss of the shell as a protection. Some of them developed colours to achieve a perfect camouflage with their habitat, others on the contrary developed garish flamboyant colours to warn their predators about their toxicity. I've chosen some pictures from three wonderful galleries. These first pictures are by David Doubilet. Removing the background he managed to drive the attention even more on the wonderful colours and shapes of the nudibranchs. See all the pictures on NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC