Sea Angels get their name from their silly flappy appendages near their heads. They are a type of swimming sea slug, and not a baby squid (Like my wife thought, granted... so did I) Sea Angels evolved their "foot" into their wing-like appendages that are called Parapodia. They are a free swimming ocean lifeform capable of chasing down their prey at a staggering 100 mm/s or 0.22 mph! On our scale that's not very fast. But for the Sea Angel, it's near double the speed of its chosen prey and serves the animal quite well.
Polar Sea Angels are the largest of their species, attaining lengths of 4-5 centimeters. Most of the warmer water counterparts are much smaller. They are carnivores that hunt other species of pteropods. Some are ambush predators while others actively pursue their prey when they sense them nearby.
The Sea Angel is a protandrous hermaphrodite which means they start off male and become female later on in life. Mating can take up to 4 hours and the female will lay up to 40 eggs.
All photos are my own, taken by myself. They are taken using a Nikon P900 and a Samsung S20. Consider checking out my website, Midnight Sunsets. I'm also on Twitter and Instagram!
