Julie, Terry, Gary and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 79 minute and 1 x 76 minute dives in water depths from 13 m to 17 m. 6 m viz, 27 C water temp and considerable surge.
The weather forecast proved accurate in all respects apart from the predicted swell the size of which caught us by surprise making photography quite difficult. As previously experienced the swell has a definite effect upon the species count by way of both our ability to find slugs and the slugs own penchant for finding the nearest crevice in which to escape the constant to and fro. (We were seriously considering renaming this site "To & Fro".) However all was not lost as we found a specimen of a rarely seen slug - Miamira moloch and what a beauty it is too. We have found this species in several forms of external appearance over the years and the existence of these variations begs the question - is there more than one species amongst them all?
Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count
Aegires citrinus 3/-
Aegires flores 3/2
Ardeadoris sp. 2 -/2
Bornella anguilla 1/-
Chromodoris annae -/1 (Most likely)
Chromodoris elisabethina 2/1
Chromodoris kuiteri 1/2
Dermatobranchus tuberculatus -/1
* Doriprismatica atromarginata 3/12
Glossodoris vespa 1/-
Goniobranchus geometricus -/1
Goniobranchus splendidus 3/2
Hexabranchus sanguineus 1/1
Hypselodoris godeffroyana 1/-
Hypselodoris jacksoni 3/2
Hypselodoris obscura 1/-
Hypselodoris tryoni -/1
Miamira magnifica 1/-
Miamira moloch 1/-
Nembrotha lineolata -/2
Phyllidia ocellata 2/1
Phyllidia picta 1/-
Phyllidiella lizae 1/-
Phyllidiella pustulosa -/1
Phyllodesmium colemani 1/-
Sagaminopteron ornatum 4/-
Thuridilla splendens -/2
Tritoniopsis elegans 3/3
Tylodina corticalis 2/-
Glossodoris vespa
Miamira moloch
Nembrotha lineolata
Goniobranchus geometricus
Thuridilla splendens
Goniobranchus splendidus
Phyllidia picta
Hypselodoris obscura
Tylodina corticalis
Chromodoris annae
Phyllodesmium colemani
Hypselodoris tryoni
From the dive deck
Aegires citrinus laying spawn
Phyllidia ocellata
Hypselodoris jacksoni
Chromodoris kuiteri
Substrate
Sagaminopteron ornatum
Chromodoris elisabethina
Doriprismatica atromarginata
Tritoniopsis elegans
Hypselodoris godeffroyana
Tiffin
Surface conditions under Mt. Coolum
Ardeadoris sp. 2
Aegires flores
Hexabranchus sanguineus
Miamira magnifica
