Lee Goldman We snorkel a place called Secret Beach in El Nido. This place is a small marine lake, about 15m diameter and no deeper, even at the highest tide, than 1.5m. In here are some of the largest concentrations of Roboastra gracilis I can find. We can see dozens on any given snorkel. Here are two (not so great) photos that show a variation even within a small population within a confined area. Note the difference in colors of the gill plumes (and numbers, 3 versus 5). I know the photo is not 'bright' but clearly the difference can be seen. That's the craziness that is variation, especially with nudibranchs.
Lee Goldman Sorry I should have said that neither photo is taken with a flash. Only natural sunlight
Blogie Robillo Haven't seen this species yet. I hope we have them here too!
Lee Goldman This one threw me for a bit. I asked Filippe Poppe for his advice. I though it was a species of Tambja. The main reason was because Roboastra are nudi predators and we rarely see any other type of nudi in here (Elysia ornata occasionally) so what were they preying on? They were always in the algae (Boodlea sp.). I know they may not prey on each other since the only time I did see them in contact, they were mating (I attached picture above).
Carl-Johan Nilsson This solved a mystery to me, also had this one as a Tambja sp. Shot snorkelling in ambient light at Alona Beach, about 2 m depth.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.191517844231469.44470.100001197658091&type=1#!/photo.php?fbid=419369584779626&set=a.191517844231469.44470.100001197658091&type=1&theater
Kati Burg Maybe it is a color variation of Roboaster gracilis. If you didn't see any other nudibranchs doesn't mean that there are no other (maybe nocturnal) or they feed on each other.
http://www.nudipixel.net/photo/00005554/6/
Lee Goldman Yep this picture was making a point about color variations in nudibranchs. True that maybe there are more nudis at night, but then again why would these guys be so active during the day? You'd think they'd also be more active when their prey is. Most interesting, really, is that there are just so darn many in this small area. And year after year and every time I visit which is 7 or 8 times per season. So it's not fortuitous recruitment, they are there. They are there enough that I brief them to my guests.
Kati Burg Interesting indeed. If there are so many in such a small area there must be enough prey for all of them.
Lee Goldman Crazy right? That's what threw me off, I just couldn't figure on so many predators but an (apparent) lack of prey. But, like you said, probably come out at night. The only other nudi we see in there are Elysia ornata (not common) and Phyllidia (not too tasteful I suspect and not common in there either)
Nick Hope A question for the experts... Do Elysia sp. breathe through their parapodia, or do they have gills somewhere?
Gary Cobb This beauty is Elysia ornata
Nick Hope Thanks Gary! How does it breathe? (I want to be factually correct in a video commentary I am writing where I distinguish this from nudibranchs)
Gary Cobb Elysia species basically breathe through their skin - gaseous exchange
Cynthia D. Trowbridge not Elysia ornata...Integrative species delimitation in photosynthetic sea slugs reveals twenty candidate species in three nominal taxa studied for drug discovery, plastid symbiosis or biological control Original Research Article
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, In Press
Cynthia D. Trowbridge sorry Nick, did not mean to poach your conversation but we split the species
Nick Hope No problem Cynthia, be my guest. So does my specimen have a new name? It's from the Lembeh Strait. Also, do you know if it is one of the "solar-powered" Elysia slugs? I know the green coloration comes from the choloroplasts it has eaten but I don't know if the slug derives energy from ongoing photosynthesis.
Gary Cobb I knew of this research but did not want to preemp anything! Cynthia please let me know when the paper is out!!
Gary Cobb Cynthia you mean this species is not E. ornata NOW? Is the paper out now?
Cynthia D. Trowbridge I posted the title from the publisher's website so I gather the uncorrected proofs are available now. I have not yet seen them. No new names yet, Nick, but that 3 orange patch parapodial one is not E. ornata. Gary, I will send a copy in the next few days after the proofs are checked. In the midst of a 8-credit field course at the moment...
Nick Hope Thanks again. I will refer to this as Elysia sp. (or "Elysia cf. ornata") and will avoid saying it is "solar-powered" via symbiotic chloroplasts unless someone assures me that it is.
Gary Cobb After looking more closely at your photo Nick I see long white papillae, which is (was) not Elysia ornata. Go with Elysia sp.
Сергей Вердеревский Bali. Indonesia
Today at the Secret Bay. 08.01.2013
SONY NEX-7, 1/160, 22, ISO 100, E 3,5/30, macro, Lens Aquatica +10, ikelite DS 51+2
Rob Maller Could also be Elysia grandifolia.....difficult though.
Johny Leffelaer Yeahhh,a lot of similarities between this two,also region is important.;-)
Rob Maller Was in Masra Nakari (Egypt) housereef...not a common finding there anyway...
Johny Leffelaer Als ik de commentaren bekijk op het Seaslug forum van B. Rudman,zouden het best wel eens dezelfde kunnen zijn Rob. Er valt nog zoveel te ontdekken he,dat houdt het leuk toch.;-)
Jack de Vries nice one :)
Lars Nedergaard Very nice, shot the same in the house reef of Eco Lodge Nakari on a night dive late March this year
Rob Maller We then where neighbours for 2 days I believe....
Lars Nedergaard Oh,that's you?? Nice pictures and cool to meet here again. Hope you had a nice time in the camp!
Rob Maller Great time and quite a few critters in the housereef!
Sonja Ooms Ornate Elysia (?) munching away in Beirut, Lebanon - 02/11/2013
Found at about 8-9m of depth and was about 3-4 cm big.
Natalia Rifai Here are the most common nudies in the mediterianian and I have spotted them all in Lebanon.
Natalia Rifai I have seen those nudies as shallow as 50cm, they are everywhere after a storm, by the hundreds on the larger rocks.
Natalia Rifai This one is Thuridillia Hopei according to this list
Natalia Rifai Not in one dive site, but across the cost.
Natalia Rifai The only place where I managed to spot all of them in one dive was in Italy near Rome.
João Pedro Silva This is not Thuridilla hopei. It's either Elysia ornata or E. grandifolia (might be synonyms, in spite of the difference in radular teeth). Both have been recorded in the Mediterranean.
For discussion on this, check this post at the Sea Slug Forum: http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5727
João Pedro Silva For accurate images of Thuridilla hopei showing how different they are from Elysia ornata, check some examples at Nudipixel: http://www.nudipixel.net/species/thuridilla_hopei/
Sonja Ooms Ringed chromodoris (chromodoris annulata) that thinks it is a clam. They are quite common here. I found it at a depth of about 8m and it was about 5 cm big. Beirut, Lebanon - 02/11/2013
Natalia Rifai Great.... See how gorgeous they are? They also love currents. Actually Lebanon are the only waters where I have seen them in the mediterinian up till now.
João Pedro Silva One of the lessepsian migrants coming into the Mediterranean. I guess some more will come. Hope indigenous species are not affected.
Sonja Ooms So far I have only seen this one and an ornate elysia
João Pedro Silva Sandrine Bielecki's "Des Limaces de Reve" shows at least 8 species of opisthobranchs in the Mediterranean which are native to the Indian ocean. It doesn't include Elysia ornata, though. Are you sure of the identification?
http://www.deslimacesdereve.com/
Natalia Rifai Don't worry, I have seen lots!
Natalia Rifai All is ok! Those waters are full of excitement, love and beauty. Last year I was interviewed there by a local newspaper and we talked on the matter as well. I believe we are living and witnessing an amazing evolution and adaption in those waters. Imagine a divers emotions once seeing a lion fish at a depth of 30 meters in the mediterinian. Last year, one was spotted at AUB, very close to the site where this nudi was photographed. This summer, more than 3 lion-fish in one dive where spotted around 15 kms away. Who said globalization is only a humanistic characteristic.
João Pedro Silva I'm afraid I don't share your enthusiasm for exotic species. History has shown the introduction of invasive species is often a really bad idea.
Natalia Rifai Sonja Ooms, as I have already said told you back at the dive center all those nudis start to blossom in surge and currents. That's why during bad weather the waters start to blossom particularly during winter.
Sonja Ooms @ João Pedro Silva: E. ornata is very variable in color and markings and found circumtropically (tks Ron Silver). I'm sure about my ID
João Pedro Silva Some species have even wider distributions.... but not this one. The question is not the validity of your ID: it's an ecological issue which seems to be escaping some.
Christopher ThornThuridilla splendens? Green Island, Taiwan. 20 mm, 3 m.
Cynthia D. Trowbridge Elysia marginata (species complex) based on our molecular evidence from Okinawa and elsewhere
Christopher Thorn interesting , thank you.
Andy Gray Well it looks like a Plakobranchidae but not sure its what you think it is. Maybe a Rough Elysia or an Ornate Elysia. Hard to say from the pic.
Christopher Thorn if i understood Cynthia correctly Elysia ornata is considered part of the species complex. Do you have a latin name for the 'rough elysia' Andy?
Andy Gray No they just call it an Elysia sp. There is an awful lot of them too. A lot of different looking Elysia ornata also. http://seaslugsofhawaii.com/species/Elysia-ornata-a.html
Gary Cobb We are calling this Elysia ornata
Cynthia D. Trowbridge Gary, we have a paper in the final stages...there are no ornata in the Pacific and there are many in the marginata complex. This is one of them. So, what people are calling ornata in the Indo Pacific are marginata sensu lato and need to be redescribed and renamed....
Amruta Prasade We have also found these type of Elysia sp from Gulf of kutch, Gujarat which we used to call Elysia ornata. I have shared its photo in my older posts.
Gary Cobb Nice work please send me the paper please please please:)
Kristin Anderson Please let me know if this is Elysia expansa?
Exmouth Gulf, Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia
Blogie Robillo Yup, I do believe this one's Elysia ornata. Beautiful shot too!
Cynthia D. Trowbridge careful, guys... as soon as our molecular paper comes out, you will learn that this is a highly problematic ID. I cannot say more until the revisions are approved.
Kristin Anderson so when does that get approved and what should I do in the meantime ;)
Cynthia D. Trowbridge Hi Kristin,
I am not sure what you mean "what do you do" as I am not sure why it matters...science? photography? personal interest? EIS?
I also cannot "answer" when as reviewers and journals take their own time. Basically, we are splitting the "species" and, without internal anatomy and/or DNA, there will be only a limited ability to retrospectively ID photos as color patterns are the worst indicators of identity.
Cynthia D. Trowbridge Kristin,
Let's take this over to email (cdt@uoregon.edu) and we could talk further. Hope that is okay?
Blogie Robillo Here's another Elysia ornata, Mark & Geoffrey. :)
Blogie Robillo Btw, the "Mark & Geoffrey" up there, that's not part of the critter's scientific name. I was just trying to tag Mark Farrer and Geoffrey Van Damme :")
Gary Cobb Beautiful pose!
Mark Farrer hahahaha Blogie Robillo
Steve Wright nice shot!
Geoffrey Van Damme lol
Orietta Rivolta Like a fan ,nice!
Blogie Robillo Info & more photos here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/12682146