Thursday, October 9, 2014

Species List: DropOff, Currimundi Reef, Caloundra, Sunshine Coast, 05-10-2014

34 species sighted at DropOff, Currimundi Reef, Caloundra, Sunshine Coast.

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