Nudibranch Central

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Species List: Terry's Delight, Arkwright Shoals off Coolum, Sunshine Coast, 11-09-2014

38 species sighted at Terry's Delight, Arkwright Shoals off Coolum, Sunshine Coast.

Terry and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 81 minute and 1 x 78 minute dives in water depths of 14m to 17m. 20C water temp, variable viz from 10m to 15m and a slight surge.

Wind and surface conditions permitted a comfortable trip up to Point Arkwright to dive the inshore shoals. We worked the tops of the ridges and a little down along the gutters but stayed above the deeper sandy substrate. We were rewarded with an excellent species count with large populations of some evident. Whilst no new additions to our records were found there were a couple of not-so-common species that occupied our time in the attempt to document better images.

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

Aegires flores 3/1
Ardeadoris aff. averni 3/4
Ardeadoris averni -/1
Berthella martensi 1/-
Bornella anguilla 2/3
Chromodoris elisabethina -/2
Chromodoris kuiteri -/1
Chromodoris striatella -/3
Cratena lineata -/2
Dermatobranchus ornatus 2/-
*Doriprismatica atromarginata 12/18
Elysia maoria 1/1
Flabellina rubrolineata 1/1
Flabellina sp. 1 2/1
Glossodoris vespa 2/-
Goniobranchus collingwoodi -/1
Goniobranchus geometricus 1/-
Goniobranchus splendidus 1/3
Hexabranchus sanguineus 1/1
Hypselodoris jacksoni 4/5
Hypselodoris maritima 1/-
Hypselodoris obscura 8/9
Hypselodoris sagamiensis 2/2
Hypselodoris whitei 1/-
Jorunna sp. 3 -/1
Mexichromis festiva 1/-
Miamira magnifica 1/1
Noumea verconiforma 1/-
Phyllidia picta -/1
Phyllidia varicosa 1/-
Phyllidiella lizae 2/1
Phyllidiella pustulosa 1/3
Phyllodesmium macphersonae -/1
Phyllodesmium magnum 2/1
Placida cf. aoteana 1/-
Pteraeolidia ianthina 1/1
Sagaminopteron ornatum 8/8
Tritoniopsis alba 2/-

Doriprismatica atromarginata

Looking down one of the gutters

Ardeadoris aff. averni

Tritoniopsis alba

Hypselodoris whitei

Hypselodoris obscura

Flabellina sp. 1

Noumea verconiforma

Aegires flores

Hypselodoris jacksoni

Flabellina rubrolineata

Bornella anguilla

Phyllodesmium magnum

Finishing the first dive

Surface conditions

Chromodoris elisabethina

Jorunna sp. 3

Phyllidiella pustulosa

Phyllodesmium macphersonae

Phyllidia picta

Chromodoris kuiteri

Miamira magnifica - juvenile

Phyllidiella lizae

Ardeadoris averni - note colour to edge of foot

Phyllidia varicosa - note rhinophoral pustules

Dermatobranchus ornatus

Miamira magnifica

Goniobranchus geometricus

Sagaminopteron ornatum

Berthella martensi

Hexabranchus sanguineus - juvenile

Hypselodoris sagamiensis

Mexichromis festiva

Goniobranchus collingwoodi - juvenile

Chromodoris striatella

Cratena lineata

Terry working up a gutter

Elysia maoria

Placida cf. aoteana

Goniobranchus splendidus

Friday, September 12, 2014

Species List: La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, 07-09-2014

15 species sighted at La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast.

This is our 400th Post on the Nudibranch Central Blog
Thanks and praise to Gary Cobb who had the idea, kicked it off and persevered with it.

Julie, Terry, and David on this single shore entry night dive of 98 minutes in depths to 6.4m. 3m viz and 19C water temp.

Sunday's high tide peaked at just before 19:00 giving us an opportunity of a later night dive in the hope of spotting some nocturnal species. We entered the water at the upstream set of stairs just as a light shower scudded over. Unidentia angelvaldesi appeared in the mix again probably indicating they, or their food source, prefers this section of the river rather than closer to the mouth. Fortune has smiled upon us once more with the finding of two species new to our list: Elysia sp. 12 and Trinchesia sp. 25.

Number of species sighted
* Species with highest specimen count

Cratena lineata 1
Elysia sp. 12 1 (New species)
Facelina sp. 3 1
Flabellina rubrolineata 2
Goniobranchus daphne 1
Goniodoridella sp. 1 1
Hypselodoris obscura 3
Lomanotus sp. 3 2
Phyllodesmium opalescens 1
Philinopsis speciosa 1
Pteraeolidia ianthina 3
Rostanga sp. 1 1
Trinchesia sp. 25 2 (New species)
Trinchesia yamasui 2
*Unidentia angelvaldesi 9

Surface shot showing the lights of 2 of us

still searching the river bottom.

Facelina sp. 3

Lomanotus sp. 3

Pteraeolidia ianthina

Elysia sp. 12 (New species)

Goniodoridella sp. 1

(This specimen has a totally different skin texture

to the standard specimens we find here)

Cratena lineata

Trinchesia yamasui

Goniobranchus daphne

Flabellina rubrolineata

Phyllodesmium opalescens

Unidentia angelvaldesi

Philinopsis speciosa

Rostanga sp. 1

Trinchesia sp. 25 (New species)

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Species List: La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, 05-09-2014

10 species sighted at La Balsa Park, Mooloolah River, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast.

Julie, Terry, and David on this single shore entry sunset dive of 95 minutes in depths to 6.4m. 4m viz and 19C water temp.

The river looked invitingly clear considering the recent rainfall in the catchment however in the water it did not live up to expectations with the viz at best 4m. The number of species was certainly down on our last immersion here both in species numbers and population of those species and we had the same general feeling about the fish life as well. We were just glad however to be diving again. We feel the Gymnodoris is different from Gymnodoris alba. It is similar to a couple we saw on our previous dive in the river.

Number of species sighted
* Species with highest specimen count

Cratena lineata 1
*Goniobranchus daphne 6
Goniobranchus geometricus 1
Goniodoridella sp. 1 1
Gymnodoris alba ? 2
Hydatina physis 1
Hypselodoris obscura 1
*Pleurobranchus weberi 6
Pteraeolidia ianthina 4
Trinchesia yamasui 1