Nudibranch Central

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Species List: Nudi Plateau on Currimundi Reef, Sunshine Coast, 02-05-2016

43 species sighted at Nudi Plateau on Currimundi Reef, Sunshine Coast.

Terry, Gary & David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 79 minute and 1 x 83 minute dives in water depths from 13.5 m to 16.5 m. 15 m viz, 24 C water temp and some surge.

Nudi Plateau is a new site for us consisting of a large plateau with shallow fissures and depressions, a low wall where it drops into the sand and areas of individual and jumbled boulders off to one side. On our way to Nudi Ledge we peeled off looking for varying depths on the sounder and this spot looked promising and so it was. As well as a high species count we added yet another new one to our list - Trinchesia sp. 36 - with beautiful lemon-yellow bands on the cerata.

Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count

Ardeadoris angustolutea -/1
Ardeadoris rubroannulata -/3
Ardeadoris sp. 2 1/3
Berthella martensi 3/-
Bornella anguilla 3/1
Bulbaeolidia alba 1/2
Cadlinella ornatissma -/1
Chelidonura inornata 1/-
Chromodoris annae 1/-
Chromodoris sp. 1 1/-
Colpodaspis thompsoni -/1
Cratena lineata 1/-
Cratena simba 3/1
Dermatobranchus oculus 1/-
Dermatobranchus ornatus 2/9
Dermatobranchus rodmani -/1
Diversidoris flava -/1
* Doriprismatica atromarginata 19/9
Flabellina bicolor -/1
Glossodoris vespa 1/1
Goniobranchus albopunctatus 1/-
Goniobranchus coi 1/-
Goniobranchus collingwoodi 1/-
Goniobranchus geometricus 1/-
Goniobranchus splendidus 1/1
Hexabranchus sanguineus 1/2
Hypselodoris jacksoni 7/2
Hypselodoris obscura 1/-
Pleurolidia juliae 1/-
Phyllidia ocellata 3/1
Phyllidia picta 1/-
Phyllidiella lizae 2/2
Phyllidiella pustulosa 3/2
Pteraeolidia semperi 1/1
Sagaminopteron ornatum 1/2
Tambja morosa 1/-
Thorunna sp. 4 -/1
Thuridilla carlsoni 1/-
Trinchesia sp. 33 -/1
Trinchesia sp. 36 -/1 New Species
Tritoniopsis alba -/2
Verconia norba -/1
Verconia simplex -/1

Pleurolidia juliae

Cratena simba

Glossodoris vespa

Chelidonura inornata

Chromodoris annae

Goniobranchus albopunctatus

Goniobranchus albopunctatus - showing fish bite

on left posterior side

Tritoniopsis alba

Thorunna sp. 4

Ardeadoris rubroannulata

Dermatobranchus ornatus

Pteraeolidia semperi

Dermatobranchus rodmani

Substrate - showing small drop-off at plateau edge

Substrate - showing fissures in plateau top

Hypselodoris jacksoni

Doriprismatica atromarginata

Sagaminopteron ornatum

Tambja morosa

Bornella anguilla

Chromodoris sp. 1

Phyllidiella lizae

Ardeadoris angustolutea

Phyllidiella pustulosa

Bulbaeolidia alba

Goniobranchus coi

Goniobranchus geometricus

Trinchesia sp. 33

Goniobranchus splendidus

Ardeadoris sp. 2

Diversidoris flava

Verconia norba

Verconia simplex

Trinchesia sp. 36 - New Species

Cadlinella ornatissma

Surface conditions

Berthella martensi

Thuridilla carlsoni

Hexabranchus sanguineus - juvenile

Hexabranchus sanguineus - adult

Flabellina bicolor

Cratena lineata

Colpodaspis thompsoni

Trinchesia sp. 36 - New Species

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Species List: La Balsa, Mooloolah River, Sunshine Coast, 28-04-2016

13 species sighted at La Balsa, Mooloolah River, Sunshine Coast.

Terry, Gary and David on this single, shore entry dive of 161 minutes. Maximum depth 5.6 m, 23C water temperature and 5 m viz.

The tides are smaller at the moment which means less run and we can get in the water earlier before the high tide. Amongst the usual finds were a couple of not-so-common species. An undescribed species of Trinchesia was found and is our Trinchesia sp. 29 on our site. In the past we would have "lumped" it in with Trinchesia ornata however the recent book by Gosliner et al: Nudibranch & Sea Slugs Identification, indicates that these look-alikes are a clade of different species. A search for the original paper by Baba describing Trinchesia ornata has borne fruit. It confirms that our original Trinchesia ornata is not that species but another undescribed one. In fact it now appears that we had up to four cryptic species placed under that name. The website will be updated before tomorrow to reflect those changes. We also hope that DNA sequencing will be published in the near future to either support or refute the changes we have made.

Number of species sighted
* Species with highest specimen count.

Atys sp. 1 -1
Bulbaeolidia alba -2
Dendrodoris nigra -1
Doto sp. 3 -2
Elysia pusilla -1
Goniobranchus daphne -9
Goniobranchus reticulatus -1
Goniodoridella sp. 1 -2
Goniodoridella sp. 3 -1
Hypselodoris obscura -5
Pleurobranchus weberi -1
* Pteraeolidia semperi -51
Trinchesia sp. 29 -1