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Philinopsis ctenophoraphaga, Gosliner, 2011
Images courtesy of Marc ChamberlainAnilao, Batangas, Philippines
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Described from the Philippines, it is named for its feeding behavior, feeding on platyctene ctenophores, including Coeloplana meteroris(seen at left). It can be distinguished externally by its elongate posterior lobe of the head-shield, reddish color with white spots, and internally thinly muscularized buccal mass and simple, unarmed penis. We posted this species previously as Philinopsis sp. here on the Sea Slug Site. Philinopsis ctenophoraphaga is the only species of Philinopsis with a pink to maroon coloration and opaque white spots. It is also unique in having a more elongate and acutely pointed triangular posterior end of the cephalic shield. In most other species of Philinopsis the posterior end of the head shield is rounded and shorter. The posterior end of the cephalic shield is held upright when the animal is actively crawling. Specimens may reach 40 mm in length. Reference: Gosliner T.M. (2011) Six new species of aglajid opisthobranch mollusks from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Zootaxa 2751:1-24.
New Braunfels, TX Jun., 2023 Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com |
Washington to Texas
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Marc and Michelle Chamberlain reside in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, Washington where they have lived for the last 15 years. They enjoy cold water diving and take advantage of their location to dive Puget Sound, Hood Canal, the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Peninsula all in Washington as well as multiple locations in British Columbia and southeast Alaska whenever possible. They also travel abroad (pre-pandemic), often combining land and water opportunities as in a trip to New Zealand, where they did extensive bird watching and hiking in addition to diving the Poor Knight's Islands (which I am going to put on my places to visit list).
Marc has a Nikon D500 in a Subal housing with 2 YS-D2 strobes and diffusers in addition to a variety of lenses. Marc in his time in San Diego was SDUPS Photographer of the Year so many times that I lost count! In fact, Marc came to mind many summers ago during a trip on the Catalina Express from Dana Point. Due to a loading snafu, the bag containing my camcorders was stowed down below and therefore unavailable during the hop over to Catalina. Well, you guessed it!, a Blue Whale breeched about 50 feet off the boat and hung around for about 10 minutes for everyone onboard to get a shot. That is with the exception of yours truly! During the remainder of the voyage the only thought that came to mind was "if Marc has been onboard he would have been ready." That folks is the difference between those who dream and those who actually do it!
Send Marc email at marccchamberlain@gmail.com |
