Elysia obtusa is uncommon, but is known in the Marshalls from specimens found at Enewetak, Kwajalein, Bikini and Majuro Atolls. Most were under rocks on lagoon reefs and pinnacles, but one was on the wall of a small seaward reef cave at night. Depths ranged from about 1 to 15 meters, and lengths of the animals from 8 to about 12mm. The first specimen below is from Bikini Atoll, where it was under a lagoon reef rock at a depth of 2m on 14 June 1982. It measured 8mm in length. Elysia obutsa was first reported in the Marshalls from Bikini and Enewetak Atolls by Johnson & Boucher (1984).
The two photos below show a specimen from Kwajalein Atoll, found under a rock on a lagoon pinnacle at a depth of about 6m on 5 January 2009.
The specimen in the next two photos was found under a rock on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon pinnacle at a depth of about 6m on 12 July 2009. The first shot shows it immediately after the rock was turned over. The Elysia was curled up next to some very similarly colored tunicates. Coincidence?
Another from a southern lagoon pinnacle on 26 January 2015.
A very yellow specimen found in one of the Kwajalein reef quarries by Christina Sylvester.
The one below was found at Majuro Atoll by Ken Cone and Beth Van Zummeren.
Created 2 February 2007
Updated 2 December 2021