Rare rainbow sea slug spotted in Cornwall
It is one of the first sightings of the rare species in the UK
A rare rainbow sea slug has been discovered in Falmouth, in one of the first sightings in the UK.
The colourful species known as a Babakina Anadoni is most commonly spotted in warmer seas - like in France, Portugal and Spain.
It was first spotted in UK off the Isles of Scilly in 2022.
Vicky Barlow, who was with the The Rock Pool Project when she discovered the rare creature hiding in the rocks last week in Falmouth, said:
"When you have been rock pooling as much as I have been in the last year, you start to get an eye for which rocks are most likely to have something interesting underneath. The last rock I picked up was exactly one of these."
Vicky continued: "It was quite a large, heavy rock, covered in various seaweeds, and once lifted something extremely bright and unusual caught my eye. Having been reading up on nudibranchs a lot recently I knew exactly what the colourful blob in front of me was!
"The extremely rare Rainbow Sea Slug! Once delicately placed in a pot to view, the beautiful animal unfurled and revealed itself in full technicolour."
According to The Rock Pool Project, the first sighting of the species was in August 2022 and there have been a handful of sightings since by divers and snorkelers since.
They believe this could be the first sighting by a rock pooler in the UK.
You can find out more information about the discovery on their website.