Nudibranch Lovers

[MaxBottomtime]

A few of my favorite Southern California nudibranchs

Aeolidiella oliviae

Flabellina iodinea

Tritonia festiva

Mexichromis porterae

Dendronotus iris

Cuthona divae

Doto kya

Hermissenda crassicornis

Peltodoris mullineri

Berthella californica

Tylodina fungina

Hypselodoris californiensis

Ancula gibbosa

Polycera tricolor

Flabellina trilineata

Janolus barbarensis

Dendrodoris behrensi

Catriona columbiana

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Anilao nudis

Ardeadoris egretta

Ceratosoma alleni

Chromodoris annae

Chromodoris dianae

Chromodoris fidelis

Chromodoris geometrica

Chromodoris kuniei

Chromodoris magnifica

Chromodoris willani

Cratena lineata

Flabellina macassarana

Glossodoris atromarginata

Gymnodoris ceylonica

Gymnodoris rubropapulosa

Halgerda batangas

Hypselodoris bollandi

Hypselodoris infucata

Hypselodoris maculosa

Jorunna funebris

Nembrotha chamberlaini

Noumea alboannulata

Phyllidia polkadotsa

Phyllodesmium briareum

Phyllodesmium rudmani

Pteraeolidia ianthina

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Reticulidia fungia

Risbecia apolegma

Risbecia bullockii

Thecacera picta

 

[tracydr]

The is the egg casing from a Spanish Dancer off the coast of Africa, Pemba Island. Spanish Dancers are one of the largest nudibranchs and I wish I'd been able to get a photo of a pair free swimming at night. Unfortunately, I wasn't set up for that type of photography when I made my Africa trip. They were the most amazing nudibranchs I've ever seen and they are actually the reason that the leader of the trip chose Pemba Island. He'd wanted a video of free swimming Spanish Dancers and had never gotten them, despite many trips to the Red Sea.

 

[Roko]

Awesomeness overload, MaxBottomTime!

 

[merxlin]

For those of us in SoCal we get to see Phil's (MaxBottomtime) photos on a regular basis. I use his photo captures to create our local bucket lists!

 

[Tjack]

Dude!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

For those of us in SoCal we get to see Phil's (MaxBottomtime) photos on a regular basis. I use his photo captures to create our local bucket lists!

One of my dive buddies asked me why I post dive reports. This is exactly why! I appreciate other reports about local sites. I've dived many sites that I hadn't known about before because of a description someone else wrote. I like returning the favor for all who wrote about SoCal diving when I was a newbie. I also like to promote local diving by showing the conditions and what can be found at each site.

 

[Tjack]

Thanks for the outstanding collection of Nudi shots there Phil. Looks like SoCal should be on the list of Nudibranch hot spots.

Do you have any tips on how to find so many different species of Nudibranch?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I look for their food source and eggs, but most have such flamboyant colors that they really stand out on the reefs.

Dendronotus iris

Of course, some can't be seen even when you are straining to look at them. This little guy was a tiny speck on a small piece of rust. I got as close as I could focus (not very well), took a shot and then zoomed in all the way just to see if it was a grain of sand or an animal.

Cuthona albocrusta