This small 4mm long cephalaspidean looks somewhat like the dark colored form of Niparaya cf regiscorona figured on the Sea Slugs of Hawaii site. The zoomed in image below doesn't show much detail, but the surface is pustulose with small white warts. To the naked eye, the color appears black with the small white pustules and scattered larger white patches. Under magnification, the coloration resolves to translucent gray covered with black and white granules, the white ones more prominent on the pustules. There are orange bands running laterally just inside the parapodia. This specimen was found on Enewetak's lagoon reef, under a chunk of dead coral at a depth of 5 meters. It is possible this is a dark form of the one we are calling Niparaya sp. e632.
Created 28 January 2007
Updated 5 January 2022