Melibe sp. 1

Image courtesy of Martinand Sonja Buschenreithner
Bali, Indonesia

Algae photographed in general vicinity where Melibe sp. 1 was found!
Another example of mimicry in nature?

Melibe sp. 1 (undescribed in Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs, page 330) Well here's another, almost impossible to see species of Melibe, similar to the newly described Melibe colemani Gosliner & Pola, 2012, Melibe engeli and M. bucephala (See page 330 of Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs). We can't really say much about it, except that it is known from Bali and Sulawesi, Indonesia and looks like a golden brown tuft of algae. Only when you look real close do you see any of its anatomy such as the rhinophores, oral hood or its internals. Interestingly, this species has not been photographed in the way that exaggerates the appearance of the interconnected digestive gland tubules, as seen in most of the M. colemani shots. And maybe that is an important taxonomic point that will distinguish it from colemani. This is another one of those that "Nudibranch Central" in San Francisco is screaming out - "Send us some specimens, PLEASE."

Martin and Sonja at the Taj Mahal, Agra, India

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-520 and Sea & Sea YS 110 flashes. In my collection are now more than 100,000 photos. www.martin-busch.magix.net Send Martin email at mabusch@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 three excellent shows from Bali, Alor and more recently South Australia 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, Angel Valdes, Dave Behrens La Jolla, Calif. Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com

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