For the first time, a strange-shaped, multi-colored sea slug was discovered in the UK

A rare multicolored sea slug named Babakina anadoni was found by a diver off the coast of Scilly Isles, Cornwall Islands in the southwest of England.

Allen Murray, a volunteer with the Cornwall Wildlife Foundation, found the sea slug while participating in National Maritime Week. He found it while diving near Mellinggan, an uninhabited rocky island in the Cornwall Islands.

 Babakina anadoni sea slug.

The sea slug was discovered to be only 2cm long, less than half a pinky finger and has a structure like it is covered with a layer of jade feathers. The very soft outer feathers, which are purple, yellow and orange, contain the animal's intestines and can also help them warn off predators.

The animal was first described in 1979, initially in the genus Rioselleolis, but later in the genus Babakina. Their food is mainly small creatures related to corals and jellyfish.

 Their food is mainly small creatures related to corals and jellyfish.

Babakina is found only a few times in warm ocean waters around the west coast of Spain and further south of the Atlantic Ocean. It is possible that their appearance in a new area is due to climate change or recent high temperatures.

Speaking to the Mail, Murray said he didn't realize it was a rare creature at first: 'I just know that I've never seen this animal before. When I asked the people on the boat, no one recognized it.

However, after one of Murray's team recalled seeing a picture of a similar animal on Facebook, they continued to look up and identify the animal as Babakina anadoni. Murray's photograph of a multicolored sea slug is confirmation of the species' first appearance in the UK.