Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Tuesday Nudi Goddess

Last weekend's exploratory dives produced something of a rarity here - a nudibranch. This is one of the Caribbean Hypselodoris species often known as sea goddesses.

slug

It seems this is most likely Hypselodoris bayeri although this is a different colour morph to the norm which seems based on the limited records we have to be unique(ish) to our islands.

slug2

Apparently it probably feeds on that blue sponge next to its tail but we don't really know that either......and you thought there were no mysteries left to solve.

3 comments:

myamuhnative said...

That is a gorgeous goddess!
Even a simple lettuce slug would make my day when diving, so that one is waay cooler!
Are you really using a powershot for the UW pics too?

Sally said...

Your photos make me wish I could click on them to make them bigger! Absolutely stunning, of course, but I need a little magnification for the detail!

Thanks for sharing this...

Anonymous said...

that is really amazing! I have no idea "what" it is really, but I am going to look it up next.
the bottom of the sea is beautiful....I can't believe how much life existed in just that lil shot. thanks for sharing! have a great day! :)