2012: Year of the Nudibranch


 After living in Maui for a year and really getting into the swing of all that is has to offer Heidi and I have really started to hone in on some of the lesser known creatures of the nearby reefs and other less visited underwater ecosystems. Nudibranchs have fascinated me since coming across my first Spanish Shawl in California waters but I am continuously blown away by the number of nudibranchs, flatworms, and other sea slugs that can be found here in Maui. We have been on three scuba dives and one tide pool exploration and have already discovered 8 new sea slugs previously unseen by us. We have had to dig deep into local resources to find out the identity of a few which has been very exciting.

  These pictures are just from our tidepool exploration in South Kihei. News of a tuberulous nudibranch shown below provided the inspiration to head out one night and we were treated with a Gold Rim Flatworm and two more new nudibranchs pictured above. It looks like this might just be the year of the nudibranch.
Tuberculous Nudibranch,  Dendrodoris tuberculosa
Alot of the nudibranchs we find are very small.. .this one is not!

the gills add even more flare to an already decked out nudibranch



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