Terry, Julie, Gary and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 72 minute and 1 x 74 minute dives in water depths from 17 m to 19 m. 15 m viz, 20 C water temp and a very slight surge.
Finally all of the the planets aligned - good weather, low swell, no other commitments by Team members and a fully functional vessel - making a trip to Flinders Reef possible. Great conditions and plenty of whales on the way over and whilst out there but a bit of wind on the nose for the return trip. A fairly typical Flinders Reef species count. It took the combination of the four of us spread out widely to come up with the numbers sighted. Species were widely dispersed and in low population numbers in general. Apart from a few exceptions such as the Phyllodesmium magnum and Elysia marginata most were also smaller than those of the same species we have been sighting on the inshore reefs of late.
One other find worth mentioning is a flatworm. Although this is a nudibranch site and a nudibranch report this flatworm - Pseudoceros imitatus - is a mimic of some of the noxious phyllidiid nudibranchs closely resembling Phyllidiella pustulosa for example and an image of it is posted here for comparison purposes.
Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count
Ceratosoma tenue 1/-
* Chromodoris elisabethina 5/8
Chromodoris lochi 4/3
Dermatobranchus oculus 1/1
Dermatobranchus sp. 7 1/-
Dermatobranchus tuberculatus 1/1
Doriprismatica atromarginata 4/2
Elysia marginata 1/1
Flabellina sp. 1 1/-
Glossodoris cincta 1/-
Goniobranchus collingwoodi -/1
Halgerda aurantiomaculata -/1
Hypselodoris jacksoni -/1
Hypselodoris maculosa -/1
Hypselodoris obscura 1/2
Hypselodoris sp. 2 -/1
Hypselodoris sp. 4 -/1
Hypselodoris tryoni -/1
Hypselodoris whitei -/1
Phyllidia ocellata 1/-
Phyllidia varicosa -/1
Phyllidiella pustulosa 1/1
Phyllodesmium magnum 1/-
Pteraeolidia semperi -/2
Tenellia sp. 35 -/1
Thuridilla carlsoni -/2
Thuridilla sp. 4 -/1
Thuridilla splendens 1/2
Verconia norba -/1
Flabellina sp. 1
Elysia marginata
Dermatobranchus tuberculatus
Thuridilla splendens
Hypselodoris sp. 2 - moving in and out
of the substrate growth
Hypselodoris sp. 2 - close-up
Hypselodoris whitei
Goniobranchus collingwoodi
Dermatobranchus sp. 7
Flatworm - Pseudoceros imitatus -
a phyllidiid nudibranch mimic
Ceratosoma tenue - juvenile
Glossodoris cincta
Chromodoris lochi
Dermatobranchus oculus
Phyllidia varicosa
Verconia norba
Thuridilla sp. 4
Loading up
Perfect surface conditions
Looking, looking, looking
Doriprismatica atromarginata
Substrate
Chromodoris elisabethina -
most numerous on the day
Phyllidia ocellata
Phyllodesmium magnum - a large specimen
feeding on soft coral
Looking south to Cape Moreton
Pteraeolidia semperi
Hypselodoris maculosa
Thuridilla carlsoni
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Hypselodoris sp. 4
Halgerda aurantiomaculata
Phyllidiella pustulosa
Elysia marginata
