Nembrotha sp. 1

We ran this critter the first time back in 2013, but you guys keep finding it. Hopefully, one of these days we can put a name on it. The good news is we are getting a nice collection of photos documenting the variation in color.

This really looks like a Nembrotha, but we are not really sure what it is. Its internal anatomy suggests it is a new genus.

The body is blue-black with orange spots. The gill and rhinophores are whitish with some dark brown or blue, but this color varies greatly between specimens, and the strangely shaped velar tentacles are blue to purplish-blue. View webmaster Mikes video of what is thought to be the adult form . Mike's video of this guy was recorded at Richard Willan's 2012 Opisthobranch Symposium in PNG (Video will be downloadable until June 20th)!

One day a group from the workshop went out on a Mandarin Fish shoot which Mike soon lost interest in and started wondering around looking for slugs! Mike found the video's subject on what he originally thought was a giant rock! Upon closer examination he found spikes characteristic of a military sea mine protruding from the rock! When he backed off and reexamined the "rock", his observations were confirmed. Mike took a short video and exited the area promptly. Turns out this dive area was in the proximity of the WWII Japanese Naval Base at Rabaul!

I can't really tell you much about it except that it has been found on rocky reefs feeding on colonial tunicates, in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Great find Phil!

Phil Garner has been scuba diving since 1989. Before that, he enjoyed free diving the many reefs around Palos Verdes. He met Merry Passage during a beach dive at Marineland in 2006 and they have been a team ever since. Phil is the author of Diving The Palos Verdes Peninsula . He and Merry can be found branching as often as possible.

Send Merry email at mbpassage@yahoo.com
Send Phil email at pacificcoast101@yahoo.com