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Spanish dancer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

WOTD – 16 November 2025

Etymology

Thumb
Hexabranchus sanguineus (sense 1).
Thumb
Enypniastes eximia (sense 2).

From Spanish (adjective) +‎ dancer (noun), probably from the resemblance of the animal to a flamenco dancer in a reddish dress with ruffles.

Pronunciation

Noun

Spanish dancer (plural Spanish dancers)

  2. A species of nudibranch sea slug, Hexabranchus sanguineus, commonly growing up to a length of 25 centimetres (about 9.8 inches), with some in the Red Sea up to 40 centimetres (15.7 inches).
    • 1988 July 14, Joseph R. Pawlik, Michael R. Kernan, Tadeusz F. Molinski, Mary Kay Harper, D. John Faulkner, “Defensive Chemicals of the Spanish Dancer Nudibranch Hexabranchus sanguineus and Its Egg Ribbons: Macrolides Derived from a Sponge Diet”, in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, volume 119, number 2, Amsterdam, North Holland: Elsevier, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, abstract, page 99:
      The Spanish dancer nudibranch Hexabranchus sanguineus […], a large brightly colored shell-less sea slug (Gastropoda : Opisthobranchia) common to Indo-Pacific coral reefs, derives a potent chemical defense from a sponge that it eats (Halichondria sp.).
    • 2023 June, Yara Tibiriçá, Marta Pola, Cory Pittman, Terrence M. Gosliner, Manuel A. Malaquias, Juan Lucas Cervera, “A Spanish Dancer? No! A Troupe of Dancers: A Review of the Family Hexabranchidae Bergh, 1891 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia)”, in Organisms Diversity & Evolution‎, volume 23, number 4, Berlin: Springer [for the Gesellschaft für Biologische Systematik], →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, column 1:
      How many Hexabranchus species are there? […] Of all nudibranch species, the "Spanish dancer" (H[exabranchus] sanguineus) is one of the most famous and most puzzling with over fifty names attributed to it.
  4. A species of deep-sea sea cucumber, Enypniastes eximia, with webbed swimming fin-like structures at the front and back of its body.
    Synonyms: headless chicken fish, headless chicken monster, swimming sea cucumber, pink see-through fantasia
    • 2018 October 21, Danny Clemens, “‘Headless Chicken Monster’ Spotted Swimming in Antarctic Ocean”, in KABC-TV‎, archived from the original on 14 November 2025:
      Australian scientists happened upon a unique animal dubbed the "headless chicken monster" during a recent expedition to test new underwater camera technology. The animal, also nicknamed the "Spanish dancer" but known to the scientific community as Enypniastes eximia, was spotted in the Antarctic Ocean off of eastern Antarctica, according to the Australian government's Department of the Environment and Energy.

Translations

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