Onch.

I made a new friend at Merawang yesterday, and decided to write something about it before someone else picks up the incriminating photos of me playing with it and writes something unflattering - and not to mention probably untrue. ;) After a rather unexciting trip (everything was hiding, so I ended up shooting stationary things for most of the day), we were packing up and about ready to leave when Pris spotted 2 onchs on the rock beside the tarp. I have a thing for slugs, you see. Not in the kinky sense or anything, but don't you think slugs are so cute? Especially the onchs which are brown, bumpy, round and cuddly-looking, and they have their eye stalks waving around too. They are just too adorable for words. Everyone should have an onchy friend. :)

Onchidoris bilamellata(?), or affectionately called "onks", are sea slugs commonly found on our sea shores. (NB: Not sure if this is the correct species, but it's the closest in terms of coloration. See Sea Slug Forum. The bumps are slightly different in colour. Could it be colour variations within the species?) I've only ever spotted it quite high up the shore, usually on rocks. This makes sense because this dorid does not eat sponges but preys on barnacles, ripping one of the barnacle's valves and feasting on the animal within. Like all nudibranchs (or sea slugs), it does not have a shell. And it breathes air through modified gills on its backside! What a cool animal. :D