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Felimare picta is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk i the family Chromodorididae. Atlantic Ocean species of Hypselodoris were all transferred to Felimare following a DNA phylogeny. Several species were formerly considered to be subspecies of Felimare picta but several have now been elevated to species rank. The color of the body is variable and goes from blue to purple, yellow or green, with irregular yellow spots. It can reach up to 20 centimeters in length. The most widespread form is the light blue-blue one with yellow spots and lines. In the video we met one yellow in color and one light blue-blue with yellow spots and lines. doride dipinto Felimare picta
Dorid nudibranch – Doride dipinto – Felimare picta – www.intotheblue.it
The tufted gills are at the terminal part of the body while the sensory appendages are located on the head. It lives in the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean Sea on seabeds up to 50 meters deep, but it is possible to encounter it at greater depths as in this case where it was filmed at 70 meters deep. This video was shot during a scuba dive in the area between Livorno and Gorgona Island. We are over 12 nautical miles from Livorno and about 6 miles from Gorgona. In this area the seabed rises from over 100 meters deep to 48 metres. It is an area that we know well in the part between 48 and 54 meters deep, but the sea always reserves unexpected surprises: in fact from the echo sounder we saw that there are reef at depths of 60, 70 meters and more. The interesting thing is that these deep rocks have never been visited by divers and therefore we are the first to document the beauty of these seabeds.
Dorid nudibranch – Doride dipinto – Felimare picta – www.intotheblue.it
However, to be able to document the seabed with the camera it is necessary to have good lighting because the sun’s rays arrive very weakly and the colors of the seabed tend to be uniform grey; the lights instead allow our camera to highlight the entire range of colors present in the coral reef. To be able to document the seabed with the camera it is necessary to have good lighting because the sun’s rays arrive very weakly and the colors of the seabed tend to be uniform grey; the lights instead allow our camera to highlight the entire range of colors present in the coral reef.
