Diversidoris flava (Eliot, 1904)
11mm
Diversidoris flava is
rare in the Marshalls. We have seen only about nine specimens so far, three
at Enewetak Atoll and the rest at Kwajalein, under dead coral rocks at depths
of 5 to 10 meters on lagoon reefs and pinnacles. The specimen below measured
11mm. All were found eating a bright yellow sponge. What appear to be lighter
colored mantle glands are embedded in the body just in from the irregular red
margin.
The specimen in the photos below
was found on yellow sponge on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon pinnacle on 14 September
2008.
The next two shots show different
individuals eating yellow sponge. The upper shot is the individual in the two
photos immediately above. The lower one was on a Kwajalein lagoon reef under
a rock in 5m of water on 1 March 2009.
The pair below showed up at the
edge of a photograph taken on an Enewetak Atoll lagoon pinnacle of another subject.
They were not noticed when the picture was taken. It is a bit fuzzy since the
picture has been blown up considerably.
The next specimen was on yellow
sponge under a rock on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon pinnacle on 25 July 2010.
A pair found by Christina Sylvester
off Kwajalein Island.
These two found under a rock on
the Kwajalein Atoll seaward reef were very small but nonetheless mature enough
to lay down several egg masses. Note there is just a trace left of the yellow
sponge they have been eating.
Created
18 December 2005
Updated 16 July 2016
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