Terry and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 80 minute and 1 x 87 minute dives in water depths of 13m to 17m. 12m viz, 20C water temp and negligible surge.
With the weather and visibility improving every day we decided to visit Nudi Retreat not having dived there for nearly 12 months. We have dived Nudi Ledge which is fairly close but that site has a slightly different terrain. Two finds of note were our Favorinus sp. 1 and Noumea cf. alboannulata. We have up until now been calling this a variation of Noumea alboannulata but this example is so extreme, to the extent of not even having any alba in the remnants of the annulata, that we felt it sensible to separate it until its ID can be confirmed.
Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count
Ardeadoris rubroannulata 1/-
Chromodoris kuiteri 1/-
Chromodoris striatella -/1
Dermatobranchus ornatus 1/1
Doriprismatica atromarginata 2/1
Favorinus sp. 1 -/1
Flabellina exoptata 1/-
Flabellina rubrolineata -/1
Goniobranchus albonares 1/-
Goniobranchus daphne -/1
Goniobranchus splendidus -/1
Hypselodoris obscura 1/-
Jorunna sp. 3 1/-
Noumea cf. alboannulata 1/-
Phyllidia ocellata 1/5
Phyllidiella lizae -/1
Phyllidiella pustulosa 1/1
* Pteraeolidia ianthina 3/5
Sagaminopteron ornatum 3/3
Tambja tenuilineata -/1
Tritoniopsis alba -/2
Surface conditions
Substrate
Tambja tenuilineata
Tritoniopsis alba
Chromodoris kuiteri
Favorinus sp. 1 - in situ
Favorinus sp. 1 - under the microscope
Goniobranchus albonares - exhibiting
mantle deformity
Noumea cf. alboannulata
Dermatobranchus ornatus
Ardeadoris rubroannulata
Hypselodoris obscura
Chromodoris striatella
Pteraeolidia ianthina
Goniobranchus daphne
