Festive Sea Slug

Hypselodoris festiva

Nudibranchs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth3–20 m
Water temperature10–29 °C
Best monthsApril, May, and August
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Izuzuki Diver, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Hypselodoris festiva, the festive sea slug, is a common species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae. It eats sponges.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Hypselodoris festiva”, 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: 19 records
February: 23 records
March: 60 records
April: 135 records
May: 128 records
June: 101 records
July: 88 records
August: 102 records
September: 101 records
October: 51 records
November: 35 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–20 m · Deepest record: 26 m

0–10 m: 77 records
10–20 m: 105 records
20–30 m: 26 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 10–29 °C

10–12 °C: 2 records
12–14 °C: 6 records
14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 144 records
20–22 °C: 122 records
22–24 °C: 37 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 3 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Names and classification

English: Festive Sea Slug

Names in 3 more languages

Japanese: アオウミウシ
Korean: 파랑갯민숭달팽이
Simplified Chinese: 節慶高澤海蛞蝓

Other scientific names: Chromodoris festiva, Chromodoris marenzelleri, Doriprismatica festiva, Glossodoris festiva

Similar species

Cinderella Sea Slug
Hypselodoris apolegma
Bennett's Hypselodoris
Hypselodoris bennetti
Lavender Split-tooth Dorid
Hypselodoris bullockii
Triple-striped Split-tooth Dorid
Hypselodoris emma
Imperial Nudibranch
Hypselodoris imperialis
Black-spotted Split-tooth Dorid
Hypselodoris infucata

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).
345 open-data records from 1861 to 2026.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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