Happy New Year everyone! I know, I know, maybe it’s not so new anymore since it is already January 29th. I can’t believe how fast this month flew by. But, never fear, there’s still time to oooh and awwww over this little cutie nudi from the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean. Specifically found in many locations including  Indonesia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Mabul, New Britain, the Davao Gulf, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Sulawesi, Great Barrier Reef and Taiwan. Wow! This little one really gets around.

Halgerda batangas

Check out the line work on this beauty! This photo shows Halgerda batangas hanging upside down. See those bumpy orange spots on the nudribranch’s body? Those have a special name that I love.

tubercles

In anatomy, a tubercle is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. I love learning new words.

Three cheers for TUBERCLES!

Want to learn another cool word? Those thin orange lines on the nudibranch’s body make up a specific pattern that is seen in other places in nature. Do you know what it is? This giraffe has the same kind of pattern in its fur.

READY

FOR

THE

ANSWER???

The polygonal shapes resemble a network of markings.

Here’s another example in nature. This python also has this special word in it’s name:

One

MORE

EXAMPLE

AND

I’ll SHARE

THE SPECIAL

WORD

Leaves have these special patterns too. See those tiny veins in the leaf? They supply the leaf with nutrients.

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This pattern is a

Reticulate Pattern

By the way, if you like educational wormholes as much as I do, here’s a link to a fascinating webpage I stumbled upon all about leaf structures. Go geek out and get the skinny on a whole new world of words.

BOTANY BASICS: Understanding Leaves

https://biodiversity.utexas.edu/news/entry/leaves

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I hope you enjoyed meeting Halgerda batangas and learning a few fun new words. Stay tuned for February’s Special Valentine NUDI GILL Pin-Up.

Geek on!

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