Even sea slugs need respect

"The shallow-water nudibranch fauna of Southern California especially is well known, so it was pretty exciting to find a new species right under our noses here in Santa Barbara County," says Jeff Goddard. The marine scientist plucked a new species of sea slug, a colorful animal with orange-tipped spines, out of a tide pool in 2008. The 3-cm slug, named Flabellina goddardi by one of Goddard's colleagues who wrote the formal description, is one more reminder that new species are everywhere.