Aeolid unk Image courtesy of Nuswanto Lobbu
Ambon Bay, Maluku, Indonesia

Aeolid unk (undescribed) Unknown Aeolid This is truly a nudibranch travesty. We photograph nudibranchs because they are so darn beautiful - Nus' critter here is the perfect example. Wow - gorgeous - spectacular. But just because they are beautiful, doesn't mean they can be identified from photographs alone. In this case the photo is awesome, but we can't really see enough of the animal to even place it in a genus. Neville Coleman's Nudibranch Encyclopedia calls it Phyllodesmium serratum, while Debelius & Kuiter Nudibranchs of the World call it Phyllodesmium sp. 5 in their book, both photos taken in the Lembeh Straits of North Sulawesi, Indonesia by the same photographer - Takako Uno. No explanation is given by either author for their placement of the species in Phyllodesmium. Other suggestions point to Neville Coleman's book, page 265, bottom, photos taken by Roger Steene in Anilao, that it is a Facelina. Well certainly not this Facelina for sure. The morphology of the cerata does not match at all. An even better recommendation comes from Angel Valdes. His ID would be a Sakuraeolis, one I totally agree with. Good call Angel - why didn't I see this? This is one we will just need more information (both external and internal) in order to accurately even place it in a genus. The photo at left was also taken by Adeline Lukman in the Lembeh Straits area. Great find Nus - it would be fun to see a "nusi" or a "lobbui" - too bad we cannot collect specimens in Indonesia. I guess we will just have to wait for more photos.

WEBMASTER'S NOTES : I would like to acknowledge the folks who worked behind the scenes to make this BOW possible! Eli Amador of Palos Verdes, California first put us on the identity quest with his forwarding of Nus's original photo. Jim Black then jumped in with a literature search for likely suspects. Eli came back with Adeline's lembeh photo after putting Nus's photo out on his personal sea slug network! This is how it all works folks and this is where the identification process begins and hopefully will end with a description sometime in the future when specimens become available for the necessary studies!

Nuswanto Lobbu (Nus) on location

Nuswanto Lobbu, known as Nus is native to Indonesian, he was born and raised on the Small Island of Talaud, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nus was among a very privileged few who began their under water adventure under the supervision and training of the late and great Larry Smith, one of the pioneers of diving, in Kungkungan Bay Resort, Lembeh Strait. Nus continued to work his way up as professional dive guide in Lembeh, then moved to Phuket, Thailand, where he worked as cruise manager on Aqua One Liveaboard before returning to Lembeh in 2004. On his return Nus helped build and manage Kasawari Lembeh Resort for 7 years. Nus is now currently part of management team of Maluku Divers Resort, in Ambon, Maluku. Throughout his career Nus has met and worked with many professional underwater photographers, marine biologists and scientists, through this he has became knowledgeable about what diving and the underwater world is all about. When not on dry land managing Maluku Divers Resort and assisting with dive and travel logistics for trips around indonesia, Nus still finds time to dive and after many years of guiding for professional photographers Nus now takes great pleasure in taking his own photos.

From left to right, Terry Gosliner, Angel Valdes, Dave Behrens La Jolla, Calif. Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com

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