Opisthobranch of the Week is Carminodoris grandiflora

Carminodoris grandiflora

Photographed by Martin Buschenreithner
Kalabahi Bay, Alor, Indonesia
Nov. 2010
Photo taken with Olympus E-330, 50 mm Macro.

This is one of many we often toss into a special dorid category called - "Damn Dirty Dorids" - 3D. Why? Well, just look at these guys. It either takes the highly trained and experienced eyes of a Terry Gosliner to identify these darn things, or you need to dissect them to examine their internals. There are six or eight genera in this esteem group. The species has recently referred to as Hoplodoris glandifora, originally Doris glandifora. Carminodoris grandiflora does have some redeeming traits. I will offer up that. First it is one of the largest of the dirty dorids. Its large rounded dorsal tubercles can be quite colorful. One distinguishing characteristic is that the central portion of the dorsum lacks these. A reasonably cryptic species it is found throughout the Indo-West Pacific. You name it - it's there. Martin's specimen here measured about 8 cm in length. This certainly ups the size reported in Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs This specimens presence, crawling on a soft coral, is probably more indicative of just being in transition, as C. grandiflora is a sponge eater .

Dave Behrens
Gig Harbor, Washington
Jan, 2011

Sonja and Martin

My wife Sonja and I live in Mautern - Austria.
We dive for over 20 years around the world, but mainly in tropical waters as in the Indo-Pacific. We love diving, like any big fish, especially sharks but our heart belongs to the colorful small animals such as nudibranchs, from which we until now about 500 in 1500 shared dives could find. I photograph the moment with Olympus E 330 and Sea & Sea YS 110 flashes. In my collection are now more than 100,000 photos. www.martin-busch.magix.net
The attached photo shows me at my favorite job, the underwater - fotografie. in the small section with my wife, she find even the little animal.
Send Martin email at ghostpipe@gmx.at

WEBMASTER'S NOTES : Martin and Sonja are long time contributors to the Slug Site. As in many husband and wife teams, I suspect as Martin suggests, it is Sonja that finds the many nudibranchs that have found their way to presentation on the Site. Martin's skills as a photographer are unsurpassed! A couple of years ago in Bali, I had the good fortune to run into Martin and Sonja at Dive Paradise in the Tulamben area. After dinner Martin showed fellow divers his images taken that day! These were all unedited images, but nevertheless, I didn't see any that I would throw away. Martin certainly knows his system and how to get the best results out of it! What more can be said?
Martin has added two excellent shows from Bali and Alor to his website that are certainly worthy of your attention. How Martin was able to get some of these photos is beyond me!

From left to right, Terry Gosliner, Angle Valdes, Dave Behrens La Jolla, Calif.

Send Dave email at dave@seachallengers.com