When poor reef conditions threatened to dampen my Key Largo dive, I turned to the small wonders hiding in plain sight. This red-lipped blenny, barely noticeable among the reef texture, revealed an unexpectedly expressive face through my macro lens.

These images are Nudibranch. Nudibranch, or as they are commonly called, sea slugs, are small, soft-bodied gastropod mollusks that come in a diverse range of colors, shapes, and sizes and are fascinating creatures. The name Nudibranch comes from the Latin nudus “naked” and the Greek bránkhia “gills” because they wear their gills on the outside of their bodies. In some of the pictures captured, you will see a feathery appendage, these are actually their gills.