Eubranchus sp.

Photo courtesy of Francis Pellet
Lembeh Strait, Manado,Indonesia
Oct. 2006

Eubranchus sp. (undescribed)

The genus, Eubranchus , is made up primarily of temperate species. We are aware, however, of a few tropical species, most of which have not been described to date. Here is one of those.

This amazing beast is one of many species that has gone undiscovered due to its fantastic resemblance to the hydroid it feeds on. Looking strikingly similar to this Eubranchus is Lomanotus vermiformis , who feeds on a similar hydroid. Both species have dark bodies which match the main stalk of the hydroid and light colored cerata or gill structures matching the branches. Fascinating.

I am calling this species a Eubranchus because of the characteristic rings of nodules on each cerata.

Good show Francis and Pirjo.

Francis and Pirjo Pellet live in Les Vans in the Rhone Valley, France. I met Francis and Pirjo at the July, 2005 Opisthobranch Course held at Cerbere, France hosted by Robert Oms . I believe this was their third time in attending the course so that gives you an idea how enthusiastic they are about branching! They are well traveled and enjoy diving as a team to find and photograph sea slugs! Am looking forward to seeing more of their images as they certainly excel in the art of taking branch photographs! To quote Francis: "...I was born in Paris 1954. Since 1954 I have my practice as a doctor in the South of France.I started diving at the age of 15 years and I am instructor since 2004. I am interested in sea slugs since 5 years and taking pictures with Nikon Coolpix 5000 in Subal housing and 2 Inon strobes since 3 years. I am diving in France and Spain (Mediterranean Sea) and every holiday in South East Asia to discover its fabulous biodiversity.

My wife Pirjo was born in Finland and in everyday life we work as a team as we do underwater. She is Padi Dive Master and has studied marine biology with the french diving school. She is just starting taking underwater pictures with her olympus UZ 770 with Inon strobe. Our ambition is to take good pictures but above all, we want to bring a little bit happiness if possible to those who share our passion..."

Send Francis and Pirjo mail at f.pellet@medsyn.fr

This guy really gets around, I have personally seen it in Bali and the Philippines. Speaking about the Philippines, John Greenamyer was kind enough to provide a video of Eubranchus sp.(FLASH VIDEO FILE) from a trip there last May.

You need to have a Flash plug-in in your browser to view this file. A shareware player program that can be downloaded will do the trick!

Webmaster
San Diego, Calif

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
March 2005

Ali Hermosillo and Dave Behrens Author: Pacific Coast Nudibranchs and Nudibranch Behavior Co-Author Coral Reef Animals of the Indo Pacific Proprietor of Sea Challengers Natural History Books Send Dave mail at dave@seachallengers.com

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