Tambja kava is known from at least a dozen specimens in the Marshalls, one from Enewetak and the rest from Kwajalein. They were found on lagoon reefs and pinnacles under dead coral from about 6 to 15 meters. Previously this was considered Tambja amakusana.
The two photos directly below are of a specimen found on the Kwajalein Atoll seaward reef on a night dive on 13 June 2009. It was in a ledge at a depth of 10m and measured 19mm.
The dark green specimen in the two photos below was one of two found under a rock on a Kwajalein lagoon reef at a depth of about 5m on 25 July 2009.
It seems to have a swollen left foot corner.
The animal below is the one whose ID is least certain. It doesn't have the blue tipped gills and only a trace of it on the rhinophores. It also has a bit of a different look to it, with a shape reminiscent of a gymnodorid.
The specimen in the two photos was below was unusual in possessing longitudinal dark lines along the body. It was found on a western atoll lagoon reef on 6 August 2012.
A second lined specimen was found on 7 October 2012 in a lagoon Halimeda patch. It was a monster, measuring 22mm, much larger than any we had seen previously.
Created 3 January 2007
Updated 14 December 2015