Cyerce sp. e495 is so far known in the Marshalls from about a dozen specimens found at depths of 7 to 8 meters in a lagoon slope Halimeda algae patch at Kwajalein Atoll. The largest measured 18mm in length. The identification is uncertain. Our animal closely matches the one pictured for September in the 2007 Nudibranch Calender published by Sea Challengers. This is an attractive species and should be easy to identify if the original description was based on a living specimen. The steel-gray rounded pustules on the dorsal paddles are very striking.
The animal was observed to alternately wave its paddles forward, then backward, as it crawled along (below)
It almost has the look of a small flower when it sits motionless.
The three photos below appear to tie this species to Cyerce bourbonica. The gray pustules in this small specimen seem to be confined to the lower inside of the dorsal paddles, and the paddle margin and head coloration of the two "species" are similar.
These appear to be young specimens of this Cyerce species.
Created 4 November 2007
Updated 1 December 2018