Goniobranchus sp e006
15mm
This is an apparently undescribed
species of Goniobranchus that is not too uncommon at Enewetak and Kwajalein
Atolls. They usually live underneath dead coral rocks on lagoon reefs and pinnacles
at depths of 4 to 15 meters. Of 31 specimens measured, the largest was only
15mm long. The slightly translucent orange red body allows us to see the shapes
of the internal organs.
In this species, the marginal color
around the anterior and posterior ends of adults is red at the edge with an
orange submargin, with a wider white submarginal band that surrounds the entire
body. The lateral margins sometimes lose the red and orange at the edge, but
may not as seen in the photos below.
Below are two specimens feeding on a pink sponge.
The individual below is a small
juvenile. The dorsum does not turn deep orange red until the animal is larger.
The individual in the two photos
below was found under dead coral on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon reef on 28 September
2008. Its orange margin is distinct and continuous around the entire animal.
The specimen in the two photos
below was found on 16 November 2008 under a rock on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon
reef. Unnoticed at the time was a tiny Iblia
mariana in the upper right side of the first photo. The Goniobranchus
was found eating the yellow sponge at lower left.
This species also appears to eat
the pink sponge below. This animal was seen on 26 June 2010 on a Kwajalein lagoon
pinnacle.
The one below was found on 19 May
2012.
The pair below was found on the
lagoon side of Ebwaj Island, under a rock in about 6m of water, on 20 November
2016.
Created 16 December 2005
Updated 21 July 2020
Return to chromodorid thumbnails
UnderwaterKwaj home