Samla bicolor is relatively common in the Marshalls. We have seen them at Enewetak, Kwajalein and Bikini Atolls. John and Lynette Flynn record specimens from Rongelap and Ken Cone and Beth Van Zummeren have photos from Majuro. It is most commonly found under rocks on the intertidal reef, but can also occur to depths of at least 10 meters on lagoon reefs and pinnacles, and one individual was found at 25 meters on the eastern seaward reef slope. A small group of them was found eating hydroids on a plastic fishing float tied off as a subsurface buoy on one of the lagoon-bottom shipwrecks at Kwajalein. Sizes of measured specimens ranged from about 5 to 15mm. It is also a common shallow water species in Hawaii. Samla bicolor was first reported in the Marshalls from Enewetak as Flabellina alisonae by Gosliner (1980).
The specimen below was found on a metal piece of debris covered with sponges on the Kwajalein Atoll western lagoon reef at a depth of about 15m on 4 January 2009.
Specimens from lagoon pinnacles seem to have a bit more distinctly white stippled pattern.
Very small juvenile.
The photos below by Ken Cone show specimens from Majuro Atoll.
A young juvenile with limited cerata growth.
This one has been through hard times. Its rear half and one of its oral tentacles are missing. It seems to be surviving and will probably regenerate.
A cluster of Samla bicolor on a subsurface buoy marking a lagoon bottom shipwreck.
Created 8 January 2007
Updated 7 November 2021