Sesame-Sized Sea Slug Found Off Taiwan Turns Out to Be a New Species
A new species of sea slug, Thecacera sesama, has been discovered off the northeastern coast of Taiwan. The tiny nudibranch, measuring less than three millimeters, was identified after years of research and specimen collection. This discovery highlights the biodiversity of Taiwan's marine ecosystems and the potential for more undiscovered species in the region.
- ▪Ho-Yeung Chan first spotted the sea slug in 2019 while diving in Taiwan.
- ▪The species was officially described in a scientific paper published in ZooKeys after extensive research.
- ▪The nudibranch is less than three millimeters long and has distinctive black and yellow markings.
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Ho-Yeung Chan was on a recreational dive off northeastern Taiwan in 2019 when he noticed something odd clinging to what looked like a clump of underwater moss — a speck of an animal, barely the size of a grain of rice, translucent white and freckled, with tiny black and yellow dots.He took a photo. Then he messaged a sea slug expert on Facebook.That message to researcher Hsini Lin was the moment Chan learned he might be looking at something science had never formally described.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Discover Magazine.
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