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Reknowned for their bright colours, and poison-filled mantle glands, chromodorid nudibranchs are found in warm waters throughout the world. In south-eastern Australia there is a remarkable aggregation of unrelated species with red spots. Illustrated here are four of the 12 or more red-spotted species found only in this corner of the world. Dr Rudman's research suggests that this represents a case of mimicry, with all the species evolving a similar colour pattern so that potential fish predators only need to learn to avoid one colour pattern.

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