Terry and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 76 minute & 1 x 70 minute dives in water depths of 14m to 19m. 22C water temp, 10m viz and some surge.
On our way to dive another site on Currimundi Reef we noticed the depth sounder show a sudden drop off and decided to check it out. The drop off turned out to be a bluff that fell away steeply into the sand. We came away with the feeling that considering the growth on the substrate we should have seen more species than we did so it came as somewhat of a surprise that the final count was as high as 34. Finds of interest included the rarely sighted dorid Goniobranchus leopardus and the stunning aeolid Babakina indopacifica.
Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count
Ardeadoris aff. averni 1/-
Ardeadoris rubroannulata 1/2
Babakina indopacifica 1/-
Berthella martensi 2/1
Dermatobranchus ornatus 1/1
Doriprismatica atromarginata 2/6
Elysia sp. 5 1/-
Glossodoris vespa 2/-
Goniobranchus cf. reticulatus 3/-
Goniobranchus geometricus 1/-
Goniobranchus leopardus 1/-
Goniobranchus splendidus 4/3
Haminoea sp. 1 -/4
Hermaea sp. 2 -/2
Hermaea sp. 7 -/3
Hexabranchus sanguineus -/1
Hypselodoris jacksoni 2/1
Hypselodoris obscura 2/2
Hypselodoris sagamiensis 1/1
Ilbia ilbi -/4
Nembrotha lineolata -/1
Nembrotha purpureolineata 1/-
Noumea norba -/1
Phyllidia ocellata 3/-
Phyllidiella lizae 2/1
Phyllidiella pustulosa -/3
Roboastra luteolineata -/1
Runcina sp. 2 -/2
Runcina sp. 5 -/1
*Sagaminopteron ornatum 6/3
Tambja tenuilineata 3/-
Tambja victoriae 1/1
Tritoniopsis alba 2/1
Tylodina corticalis 1/2
Surface conditions
Goniobranchus cf. reticulatus
Sagaminopteron ornatum
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Goniobranchus splendidus
Phyllidia ocellata
Hypselodoris obscura
Goniobranchus leopardus
Ardeadoris aff. averni
Phyllidiella lizae
Doriprismatica atromarginata
Dermatobranchus ornatus
Hexabranchus sanguineus
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Ardeadoris rubroannulata
Nembrotha lineolata
Tritoniopsis alba
Hermaea sp. 7
Runcina sp. 2
Runcina sp. 5
Substrate
Surface conditions between dives
Berthella martensi
Roboastra luteolineata
Noumea norba
Glossodoris vespa
Goniobranchus geometricus
Hypselodoris sagamiensis
Ardeadoris rubroannulata
Babakina indopacifica
Tambja tenuilineata
Elysia sp. 5
Nembrotha purpureolineata
Tambja victoriae
Haminoea sp. 1
Ilbia ilbi
