This variable species is known in the Marshalls only from Kwajalein Atoll so far. The first two specimens were found on a lagoon pinnacle under a chunk of dead coral at a depth of 5 meters in May of 1992. In February of 1998, we suddenly found many of them on a shallow lagoon reef under rocks, along with a larger number of Pleurobranchus forskalii. When we returned to the same spot a couple of months later, neither species was to be found.
The specimen in the three photos below was found in under a rock on a shallow lagoon reef on 4 August 2008.
After seeing none of these for more than three years, six specimens (three pairs) showed up on a single dive on 29 October 2011 in an area we visit frequently. Four were under rocks in shallow, towards the intertidal reef, at a depth of about 2m, while the other two were crawling in a Halimeda algae patch at 8m.
Created 5 February 2007
Updated 11 November 2011