05/06/2026
It’s week three of our biodiversity series showcasing the incredible diversity of marine life in Arran’s seas.
This week is kelp and seaweed week!
🌵Kelps and seaweeds have been on earth since before the first dinosaurs
🌵They have complex reproductive methods where some emit pheromones and others produce reproductive cells that can swim!
🌵Some species – such as kelps and fucoids – have air bladders to help them float in order to reach the shallower depths with greater light where they can photosynthesise.
Swipe to meet a tiny gem of a creature that calls kelp forests its home!➡️
🦠Nudibranchs are shell-less marine molluscs famed for their striking colors which are often dictated by their diet.
🦠Many nudibranchs eat toxic prey such as sponges or stinging anemones and they store the stinging cells from these prey on their backs to use as a defence mechanism against predators.
🦠Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites which means they have both male and female reproductive organs. When they mate, they fertilize each other and later lay their eggs in beautiful, intricate ribbons.
🦠Nudibranchs do not see very well, so they use two horn-like tentacles on their heads—called rhinophores—to smell and taste their environment.
Come along to our Discovery Centre in Lamlash to learn more about Arran’s underwater environment, meet some of the creatures that call it home and find out what you can do to protect it! Open 10-4, 7 days a week.
VisitArran
📷 Copyright Howard Wood and Angus Robson
