NHM Expeditions - Costa Rica

	After setting up camp and the field lab by the Park Headquarters at San Pedrillo, we were finally able to begin looking for nudibranchs. The three main methods of exploration are by scuba diving and snorkeling along the coast and on reefs and rocky outcrops, or wading in tide pools at low tide. In all cases, it requires looking very carefully in and on the vegetation and rocks since most nudibranchs are small and many of them are very well camouflaged. While some nudibranchs can be found on the tops of rocks, others are more secretive, and turning over rocks to look underneath is a good way to find them. Because they are good at hanging on, it is also helpful to brush the rocks with your hand or a brush or wave the algae in the water to dislodge them and make them easier to see as they float in the water. Once a nudibranch is found, it is picked up carefully by hand or just scooped up and placed in a plastic collecting bag or bottle with water. While collecting, every effort was made to minimize negative ecological impacts. If rocks were turned over, they were returned to their original position. A record was kept of all nudibranchs seen, but many were not collected. Only a few representative samples were taken for each species. If a member of the team was not certain of the identity of a specimen and whether it should be collected, they checked with somebody else. If nudibranchs were brought back to the lab and were not needed after all, they were returned to the wild once the essential data were recorded. Another successful way of finding nudibranchs was to collect large samples of algae and soak them in dishpans filled with seawater. After several hours, the nudibranchs, seeking more oxygen, tended to crawl to the surface where they were much more visible.

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