Rare Nudibranch Video Feeding on Brittle Stars - Kalinga Ornata

[deeznutz78]

Hello all:

I was in the Philippines this last month, and had the good fortune of being able to film an extremely rare nudibranch. The Kalinga Ornata! To my knowledge, this is the only video of the nudibranch in a natural and behavioral standpoint. Even Roger Steene hasn't seen this nudibranch yet!

After reviewing my footage that evening, I noticed that I caught it eating a Brittle Star. With it's translucent body, you can see the star moving around in the body. I didn't know it was feeding when I was shooting it. So that was a pleasant surprise!

I am sorry for all the junk in the water. It was a very silty dive site, and being a night dive, my lights were attracting all sorts of critters.

Let me know what you think of the video, and if you have ever seen this nudi before either video or photo.

Thanks,

Dustin


[video=vimeo;62944508]https://vimeo.com/62944508[/video]

 

[Tigerman]

Thats one cool video of a seriously badass nudie

 

[stronj1]

That was fantastic! How big was the nudibranch?

 

[Randy g]

Beautiful video and specimen. :cool2:

 

[deeznutz78]

Thanks Tigerman. It was awesome to see it.

---------- Post added March 31st, 2013 at 12:09 PM ----------

The nudi was about 3 1/2" inches to 4 inches. Oval Shape. It wasn't too small.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

There are several videos of Kalinga ornata on Youtube and lots of stills on Google, but it's still cool to see.

 

[deeznutz78]

Correction on my earlier post. Roger Steene has seen this. I have been told he saw it a couple years ago.

---------- Post added March 31st, 2013 at 10:37 PM ----------

MaxBottomtime. You are correct on the Youtube video. Which I had seen. I was referring to it fully feeding on the Brittle Star.....And not being pushed up into the water column or in captivity. Which the others do not have.
Thanks for watching it. It really is a fantastic nudi. Never knew it existed.

Our dive guide showed it to my wife, and I never saw it. And then when I found out how rare it was, we went back to the same site and tried to find it again. We got lucky...It was still there.

Dustin

 

[TSandM]

Wow -- what a cool animal, and what a fabulous, detailed movie of the capture and feeding! That's photo contest material, IMO.

 

[toozler]

Great detail! I assume you have the camera on a tripod - how is that setup?

 

[koozemani]

I don't see a link to the video?!?!?