Monday, August 7, 2017

Species List: 05-08-2017, La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Qld

10 species sighted at La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Qld, 05-08-2017

A single shore entry night dive by Julie and Terry of 100 minutes. Maximum depth 6 m, 20 C water temperature and 10 m viz.

With our other team members having other commitments, Julie and I were forced to endure these near perfect conditions by ourselves.  Sigh!  We entered the water a little early and were faced with a bit of current which made photography somewhat difficult until the tide eased. It was noticeable that the number of critters increased later in the dive and we were rewarded with sightings of a number of species we have not seen in the river for some time. Hopefully this is a sign that the overall numbers of species is going to increase.

Number of species sighted
* Species with highest specimen count

*Cratena lineata - 18
Dendrodoris denisoni - 1
Eubranchus sp. 10 - 1
Flabellina angelvaldesi - 4
Flabellina rubrolineata - 17
Hypselodoris obscura - 5
Philinopsis falciphallus - 1
Pleurobranchus peronii - 1
Plocamopherus ceylonicus - 1
Tenellia sibogae - 3

 Flabellina rubrolineata

 Pleurobranchus peronii

 Flabellina rubrolineata

 Cratena lineata

 Eubranchus sp. 10

 Plocamopherus ceylonicus

 Philinopsis falciphallus

Dendrodoris denisoni