Bloody Spanish Dancer

Hexabranchus sanguineus

Nudibranchs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–18 m
Water temperature-2–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and May
How commonOccasional

About this species

The Spanish dancer, scientific name Hexabranchus sanguineus, is a dorid nudibranch, a very large and colorful sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Hexabranchidae. The taxonomy of the genus Hexabranchus has been controversial but a thorough molecular and morphological study published in 2023 showed that the name H. sanguineus was being used for at least 5 distinct species.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Spanish dancer”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 20 records
February: 26 records
March: 47 records
April: 44 records
May: 48 records
June: 33 records
July: 35 records
August: 24 records
September: 27 records
October: 37 records
November: 32 records
December: 26 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–18 m · Deepest record: 149.5 m

0–10 m: 42 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -2–30 °C

-2–0 °C: 1 records
0–2 °C: 0 records
2–4 °C: 0 records
4–6 °C: 0 records
6–8 °C: 0 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 19 records
22–24 °C: 31 records
24–26 °C: 66 records
26–28 °C: 66 records
28–30 °C: 155 records

Names and classification

English: Bloody Spanish Dancer, Spanish dancer, Red-margined Spanish Dancer, Virtuous Spanish Dancer

Names in 6 more languages

German: Spanische Tänzerin
Spanish: Bailarina española
French: Danseuse espagnole
Japanese: ミカドウミウシ
Thai: ทากสเปนเต้นระบำ
Simplified Chinese: 血紅六鰓海麒麟

Other scientific names: Albania formosa, Doris imperialis, Doris sanguinea, Hexabranchus petersi, Hexabranchus plicatus, Hexabranchus praetextus, Hexabranchus suezensis

Similar species

Mottled Spanish Dancer
Hexabranchus lacer

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
589 open-data records from 1916 to 2026.

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