Luisella telja
Also calledSamla telja, Flabellina telja
The listed range runs from the Gulf of California to the Galapagos Islands. iNaturalist held no earlier Southern California records on November 2, 2026, and files it as Samla telja.
Sightings
2026 season, numbered oldest first, every one sourced
- #5Oct 29, 20263 reportsOrange County coast (exact spot hidden)
- #4Oct 29, 20263 reportsCorona del Mar, Newport Beach
- #3Oct 28, 20261 reportOrange County coast (exact spot hidden)
- Source
- iNaturalist 411498872
- #2Oct 28, 20261 reportCorona del Mar, Newport Beach
- Source
- iNaturalist 411564925
- #1Oct 28, 20261 reportNewport Bay
- Source
- iNaturalist 412189141
About this fish
What it is, where it comes from, and whether it has been here before
How it lives
This nudibranch lives from the intertidal zone, the shore between high and low tide, down onto shallow reef. It feeds on hydroids, small animals that look like tiny plants, and it is not tied to a single kind.
Where it normally lives
Tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California to the Galapagos Islands.
SEASLUG.WORLD lists it from the tropical and subtropical eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California to the Galapagos Islands. It was first described in 1967 from Cholla Bay in Sonora, Mexico.
Range source: SEASLUG.WORLD · World Register of Marine Species
In California
The sources read for this page list no California records. On October 28 and 29, 2026, 8 iNaturalist users logged 9 records on the Orange County coast, most of them at Corona del Mar and Newport Bay, and all reached research grade. iNaturalist held no earlier Southern California records on November 2, 2026, and it still files this animal under an older name, Samla telja.
Photos
From California this season
No photos yet. If you photographed this animal in California this season, send it in.
Identification
How to tell it from the locals
This is a tiny pink nudibranch, a sea slug with no shell. It is an aeolid, the group with soft finger-like growths called cerata along the back. The body is see-through pink with opaque white spots, and it turns a deeper reddish pink after feeding. Most are about 0.2 to 0.5 inch long, and the largest recorded reach about 1 inch. It has no English name in the sources read for this page.
Details
Rarity in the compendium is Nautical Nick's call on how likely a diver is to run into the animal on the California coast this season, not how rare it is where it normally lives.