Species List 05-06-2010 Old Woman Island NE Reef

19 Species found

Aegires citrinus
Chromodoris splendida (3rd photo)- Very common here!
Cratena simba
Dermatobranchus sp. 2
Glossodoris aff. averni
Glossodoris atromarginata
Glossodoris vespa (top photo)- Endemic to this area! Spawn are born 1mm long nudibranchs on food source.
Halgerda willeyi
Hypselodoris obscura
Marionia cyanobranchiata (4th photo)
Noumea simplex
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa - Very common here!
Sagaminopteron ornatum
Thuridilla splendens
Trinchesia ornata
Tritoniopsis alba
Tylodina corticalis (2nd photo)

Old Woman Island looking south from NE Reef dive site 10m depth

Species List 30/05/2010 TJs Boulders and 21 - Currimundi

17 Species

Chromodoris kuiteri
Chromodoris splendida
Dermatobranchus ornatus
Flabellina exoptata (photo above)
Flabellina rubrolineata
Glossodoris aff. averni
Glossodoris atromarginata
Glossodoris cincta
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris obscura
Okenia hallucigenia
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidia varicosa
Phyllidiella lizae
Pteraeolidia ianthina (photo above)
Roboastra luteolineata
Sagaminopteron ornatum

Species List 30-05-2010 Shellacey Reef and The Trench

21 Species found
We had two missions on these dives. 1 find Glossodoris sp. 2 (no success) and 2 find our anchor (success). There was lots of swimming but we did manage to get down to the job of finding Nudibranchs! Here are scenery photos from The Trench south side.

Aegires flores
Chromodoris elisabethina
Chromodoris kuiteri
Chromodoris splendida
Flabellina rubrolineata
Glossodoris atromarginata
Glossodoris vespa
Goniodoridella sp.2 - 3mm (bottom photo)
Gymnodoris alba
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris obscura
Hypselodoris zephyra
Phyllidia ocellata 
Phyllidia varicosa
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Phyllodesmium colemani (4th photo

Risbecia tryoni
Roboastra luteolineata (2nd photo)
Thuridilla splendens
Trinchesia ornata

Species list 21-05-2010

Currimundi Reef - Forskali Park 7 species
Chromodoris geometrica
Chromodoris splendida
Glossodoris atromarginata
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa

Currimunid Reef - Nudi Ledge 15 species
Bornella anguilla
Ceratosoma magnificum (See above)
Chromodoris kuiteri
Chromodoris splendida
Dermatobranchus ornatus
Glossodoris atromarginata
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris obscura
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Pteraeolidia ianthina
Roboastra luteolineata
Sagaminopteron ornatum
Tritoniopsis alba

Species List 15-05-10 Flinders Reef and Bulwer Beach, Moreton Island

25 Species found. The bommie formation SW of Mooring 3 is quite spectacular!

Atys sp. 1
Cerberilla incola (New Species 421 second photo)
Chromodoris elisabethina
Chromodoris geometrica
Chromodoris kuiteri
Costasiella kuroshimae
Dermatobranchus sp. 1
Flabellina bicolor
Hexabranchus sanguineus
Hypselodoris aff. maculosa
Hypselodoris maculosa
Hypselodoris maritima
Hypselodoris obscura
Hypselodoris whitei
Hypselodoris zephyra
Jorunna sp. 3
Noumea simplex
Philine angasi
Phyllidia picta
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Pteraeolidia ianthina
Thuridilla neona (bottom photo)
Trinchesia sp. 8 (New Species 422 top photo)
The bommie at mooring 3 Flinders Reef (third photo)

Species List 02-05-10 The Trench

8 Species found on 1 dive. It was quite rough and a swell running which made for lots of surge.

Chromodoris elisabethina
Flabellina rubrolineata (second photo)
Glossodoris atromarginata
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidia varicosa (top photo)
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Platydoris sp.1 (Our 419th species - fourth photo)
Pteraeolidia ianthina

David shooting the New Platydoris! (third photo)
The branchial pocket of the Platydoris has 6 lobes (bottom photo)

Species List 01-05-10 Fairyland

18 Species found. It was quite surgey about 10m vis.

Berthella martensi
Chelidonura inornata mating (top photo)
Chromodoris elisabethina
Chromodoris kuiteri
Chromodoris splendida
Chromodoris striatella
Glossodoris atromarginata
Glossodoris vespa
Hexabranchus sanguineus (centre photo)
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris obscura
Jorunna funebris juvenile (bottom photo)
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Phyllidiopsis burni
Roboastra luteolineata
Tambja tenuilineata
Thuridilla splendens

Species List 29-04-10 Flinders Reef Moreton Island

23 Species found. 20-25m viz. The first 29 minutes of the first of two dives was spent on the east side of the mooring and found not a single nudibranch!! Went to the west side and Boom! Really interesting substrate and reef.

Aegires citrinus
Berthellina citrina
Chromodoris elisabethina
Chromodoris geometrica (bottom photo)
Chromodoris kuiteri
Dermatobranchus sp. 1
Dermatobranchus sp. 2
Flabellina bicolor
Glossodoris carlsoni (top photo)
Glossodoris rubroannulata
Hexabranchus sanguineus
Hypselodoris whitei
Hypselodoris zephyra
Noumea alboannulata
Noumea romeri
Pectenodoris trilineata
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Pteraeolidia ianthina
Thorunna halourga
Thuridilla carlsoni
Thuridilla cf. gracilis (third photo)
Thuridilla gracilis (second photo)

Species List Caloundra Intertidal 25/26-04-2010

Other commitments prevented us from diving over the weekend but we did manage to fit in a few hours looking under rocks on Sunday and Monday. We had not had any luck in previous weeks, but with the slightly cooler water and, perhaps, a few days without rain things seems to be improving slightly. Aside from the couple of species of nudibranch seen on each day, we were very pleased to find a Snowflake Moray in a rock pool on Kings Beach on Sunday and a Blue Ring Octopus in a rock pool at Moffats Beach on Monday.

Kings Beach Boat Ramp 25-04-2010
Aplysia dactylomela
Dendrodoris nigra

Moffats Beach Intertidal 26-04-2010
Aplysia dactylomela
Cyerce sp.1 (photo above)

Species List from 3 dives, 2 at Castle Rock and 1 at Fairyland

25 Species found in 15-20m vis a little surgey. 24 April 2010

Aegires flores
Aegires gardineri
Berthellina citrina
Chromodoris elisabethina
Chromodoris splendida
Doto sp. 1 (upper photo)
Flabellina bicolor
Glossodoris aff. averni
Glossodoris atromarginata
Gymnodoris alba
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris obscura
Hypselodoris whitei
Jorunna sp. 1 (lower photo)
Phidiana indica
Phyllidia varicosa
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Phyllodesmium magnum
Roboastra luteolineata
Tambja victoriae
Thorunna sp. 1 (second photo)
Thuridilla carlsoni
Thuridilla splendens
Trapania cf. aurata (third photo)

Species List The Trench 15m vis sunny day! 11-04-10

25 Species found

Aeolidiella alba
Chromodoris aff. africana
Chromodoris annae
Chromodoris cf. reticulata
Chromodoris elisabethina
Chromodoris kuiteri
Dermatobranchus ornatus
Dermatobranchus sp.1
Elysia verrucosa
Glossodoris atromarginata
Glossodoris aff averni
Glossodoris vespa
Halgerda willeyi
Hexabranchus sanguineus
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Pectenodoris trilineata
Phyllidia elegans
Phyllidia exquisita (top photo)
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Phyllidiopsis burni (bottom photo)
Roboastra luteolineata
Thuridilla splendens
Trinchesia ornata

Center photo is David shooting a branch with his new Subal housing.

Species List Currimundi Reef - 27/03/10

A bit late getting these up. It was great to have a dive after such a long break and we were surprised by the relatively few species seen and the limited number of each species. The surprise was the number of Ceratosoma tenue. These are usually a relatively rare sighting for us but we came across 4-5 in the one dive.

C-Spot (10 species)

Ceratosoma tenue
Chromodoris collingwoodi
Dermatobranchus ornatus
Flabellina exoptata
Glossodoris atromarginata
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris kanga (see above)
Hypselodoris obscura
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Pteraeolidia ianthina

Forskalii Park (5 species)

Chromodoris splendida
Glossodoris atromarginata

Phyllidiella lizae
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Sagaminopteron ornatum

Species List 31-03-10 Flinders Reef area - off Cape Moreton

This mid-week excursion gave us 2 dives in the Flinders Reef area but only yielded a small number of sea slug sightings. Although it was high tide conditions were ideal with 20m viz and little current or surge. David M. took the opportunity to try out his new u/w photography combination: Nikon D300 in Subal Housing, and while pleased with the results realises there is a lot of fine tuning required. The new combo is not as adaptable to different shooting applications as the old system but will provide superior images for those premeditated situations.

Aegires citrinus
Chromodoris kuiteri
Chromodoris splendida
Hypselodoris bullockii (bottom pic)
Hypselodoris maculosa
Micromelo undata (middle pic)
Noumea romeri
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Thuridilla cf. gracilis (damaged specimen)(top pic)

Species List Shellacey Reef 10-15m viz

23 Species found

Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris whitei
Flabellina bicolor
Glossodoris rubroannulata
Aegires citrinus
Pectenodoris trilineata
Hypselodoris obscura
Chromodoris elisabethina eating (center photo)
Trinchesia ornata
Hexabranchus sanguineus
Glossodoris atromarginata
Trinchesia acinosa (bottom photo)
Phyllidia varicosa
Phyllidiella lizae
Chelidonura inornata
Chromodoris lochi
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Thuridilla splendens
Bornella anguilla
Tritoniopsis alba
Hypselodoris maculosa
Chromodoris splendida
Chromodoris kuiteri
*Bonus photo (top photo) What is it??

What Branch is it?

How to tell if it is a Janolus.

Our species list now contains two Janolus.

With a profusion of cerata on their dorsum Janolus could easily be mistaken for an aeolid, but in belonging to the Zephyrinidae family the Janolus are armininans not aeolids. Although having an aeolid-like form the most readily observable feature of distinction is that in the Janolus the cerata continue uninterrupted around the anterior margin of the head, a feature no aeolid possesses (refer pic above, from The Collection). A further helpful attribute of distinction is the location of the anal papilla. In Janolus it is located on the dorsal midline posteriorly (see Erik Schlogl's message at www.seaslugforum.net/message/19798 ), whereas in the aeolids it opens to the right anterior quarter usually on the side. Whilst the rhinophores are non-retractile in both the Janolus and the aeolids, the Janolus possess a distinctive ridge between the rhinophores at their bases. This longitudinal ridge is called a caruncle and its purpose is unknown, although some have variously suggested it performs a sensory or defensive purpose.

Costasiella kuroshimae

Costasiella kuroshimae Ichikawa, 1993 has been found by us at two sites now, off Shelly's Beach Caloundra and at Flinders Reef off Cape Moreton. The specimens from Flinders Reef present with a significant and distinctive white spot on the anterior face of all the cerata, towards the tip but below the orange band (Bottom photo). The Shelly's Beach specimens, on the other hand, do not seem to possess this spot, at least not of a noteworthy size (Top photo). We will need to find more examples at different sites to draw any conclusions about this as it is considered a highly variable species in colour.

What Branch is it?

418th Species found on HMAS Brisbane!

Samual LeNoble sent this photo to us from a dive on the HMAS Brisbane in November 2009. It is Janolus sp. 1 50 mm long.

Species List 27-02-10 - Kings Beach Intertidal

Lots of wind and rain so turned over a few rocks.

Dolabrifera dolabrifera
Herviella claror (photo above)