Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 12:51 pm
What with all the reports of sea star loss, I thought it would be fun to post about some cool finds at one of our local sites. We haven't seen many nudibranchs lately, but we it the jackpot yesterday at Fox Island. The West Wall is hardly spectacular and can easily be missed, but it has the advantage of not being terribly current dependent. My experience there in years past is that there are different species of nudibranchs hanging out there, some on the rocks of the wall, others on the sandy slopes leading to the wall.
The first find was a large number of Barnacle-eating nudibranchs, Onchidoris bilamellata
These fellows can be really hard to spot, Mark and Andy swam right by them and didn't notice them egg-laying. They seem to lay their eggs in large groups, so if you see the egg ribbons look closely and you'll see the nudibranchs most likely. There are several here in this photo clustered by their egg mass.
There were quite a number of Berthella californica on the rock wall, including this pair that appear to be in the act of mating.
We were also pleased to see a number of Leopards Diaulula sandiegensis hanging out as well. These used to be quite common, but the last few years we've seen fewer and fewer.
There was a really nice Heath's Dorid Geitodoris heathi on the rocks below the wall.
The coolest find of the day was a Red-colored Giant Nudibranch, Dendronotus iris. This fellow was about 8 inches long.
There was another one with more typical coloration nearby as well.
Then there was a really nice Diamondback Tritonia festiva hanging out with a sea cucumber.
And we found a large Red Dendronotid hanging upside down from the wall.
I've seen many Pink Tritonia Tritonia diomedea there in years past, and we weren't disappointed on this visit either
And when you see Pink tritonia you will often find Striped Nudibranchs Armina californica nearby as well.
We found three GPOs in the main wall itself, including this big guy with suckers about three inches across.
There were even a few sea stars hanging around, apparently healthy and disease-free, but we didn't see any sunflower stars at all.
All in all a great dive.
Dan
The first find was a large number of Barnacle-eating nudibranchs, Onchidoris bilamellata
These fellows can be really hard to spot, Mark and Andy swam right by them and didn't notice them egg-laying. They seem to lay their eggs in large groups, so if you see the egg ribbons look closely and you'll see the nudibranchs most likely. There are several here in this photo clustered by their egg mass.
There were quite a number of Berthella californica on the rock wall, including this pair that appear to be in the act of mating.
We were also pleased to see a number of Leopards Diaulula sandiegensis hanging out as well. These used to be quite common, but the last few years we've seen fewer and fewer.
There was a really nice Heath's Dorid Geitodoris heathi on the rocks below the wall.
The coolest find of the day was a Red-colored Giant Nudibranch, Dendronotus iris. This fellow was about 8 inches long.
There was another one with more typical coloration nearby as well.
Then there was a really nice Diamondback Tritonia festiva hanging out with a sea cucumber.
And we found a large Red Dendronotid hanging upside down from the wall.
I've seen many Pink Tritonia Tritonia diomedea there in years past, and we weren't disappointed on this visit either
And when you see Pink tritonia you will often find Striped Nudibranchs Armina californica nearby as well.
We found three GPOs in the main wall itself, including this big guy with suckers about three inches across.
There were even a few sea stars hanging around, apparently healthy and disease-free, but we didn't see any sunflower stars at all.
All in all a great dive.
Dan
