This small Halgerda does not exactly match any known species, although it has some resemblance to some published figures of H. formosa. However, to me it seems too different from Bergh's original figure of H. formosa, so I prefer to keep it separate. In the Marshalls, one specimen was found at Utirik Atoll, three more at Kwajalein, one at Rongelap and another at Majuro Atoll. The first three photos below are of a specimen found and photographed in one of the Kwajalein reef quarries by Christina Sylvester.
The 8mm specimen below was found and photographed at Rongelap Atoll by John and Lynette Flynn.
The first specimen we encountered measured 11mm and was from Utirik Atoll, where it was under a chunk of dead coral at a depth of 15 meters on a lagoon pinnacle.
The specimen below was under a rock on a Kwajalein Atoll southern lagoon pinnacle on 19 August 2012.
The next two photos of a 9mm specimen were taken by John and Lynette Flynn at Majuro.
Created 15 December 2006
Updated 16 February 2022