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
Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
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Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Dan Hershman
Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Looks like you hit "pay dirt" ! very nice selection of sea slugs and all on one dive, impressive.
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
yep we dove there last thursday ... I hit gold ..
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Nice nudi's!
FIWW is usually a pretty reliable spot for them, and at the right time can be wonderful for Giants with all of the Tube Dwelling anemones in the rocky area mostly above the small wall.
I almost always see Berthellas here, way more reliably than other areas.
Great pics!
FIWW is usually a pretty reliable spot for them, and at the right time can be wonderful for Giants with all of the Tube Dwelling anemones in the rocky area mostly above the small wall.
I almost always see Berthellas here, way more reliably than other areas.
Great pics!
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Nice work Dan, Ya fueled my desire to drive over there again.
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Very nice! I haven't seen that many nudies on a dive in a long time! And I've never seen any Pink Tritonias! Fox Island seems to be the spot for them. Did you see any sand dollars? I still haven't seen any of those yet either (alive at least).
Nice Striped Nudi and Red-Colored Giant Nudis too!
Nice Striped Nudi and Red-Colored Giant Nudis too!
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
I see a Tolmie dive in your near future....YellowEye wrote: Did you see any sand dollars? I still haven't seen any of those yet either (alive at least)!
On the subject of nudis...saw around a thousand shaggy nudis at Illahee state park Saturday.
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
No sand dollars, it's been a few years since I've seen those. :(.Jeremy wrote:I see a Tolmie dive in your near future....YellowEye wrote: Did you see any sand dollars? I still haven't seen any of those yet either (alive at least)!
On the subject of nudis...saw around a thousand shaggy nudis at Illahee state park Saturday.
Shaggys are great!
Dan
Dan Hershman
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Re: Nudibranchs at Fox Island West Wall
Nice finds and pics Dan!