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I didn't at first. Another expedition team member did. Later I started looking into the smaller groups of flatworms like the acoels. This shape - like an elongated loaf of french bread, like a hybrid between a nemertean & a flatworm - is one of the typical forms. The color pattern seems to...

That's a very common sea hare Bursatella leachii. The shaggy appearance & the bright blue spots are the clues that give away its identity. There's more information here: The Sea Slug Forum - Bursatella leachii

I haven't been able to find one. A lot of these small critters are undescribed or else the living appearance is unknown so there's no way to match a description to a photograph.

It's a small flaworm. I photographed something similar in the BVI. Other Inverts Gallery 1

Your wonderful books on Japanese crustaceans are the very best resource for divers and people who are not taxonomists. I keep your books & some of your papers by my computer at home because I use them so often. :)

Odontozona? Junji Okuno by any chance? Or another japanese shrimp lover? In either case it's nice to have you around. :beerchug:

I'e seen about 20 images of this on the net but they're usually mis-identified so a google search won't find them. Do a search in the critter id forum at Wetpixel (Wetpixel.com :: Underwater Photography and Videography) - I've discussed it in at least one maybe two threads there. Here's one of...

It's a thalanassid shrimp, the same family that contains ghost and mud shrimp. Genus Corallianassa. It's been photographed a lot. This particular species is a hoarder. Some members of this genus dig extensive burrows. They capture sea grass & other vegetal detritus which they store in...

AdTRavels is right about the worm. They're not always banded.

It's a lovely little crab that's only found on whip corals, called Xenocarcinus tuberculatus. Sometimes they have polyps from their hosts growing on them.

It looks like a contracted anemone in the genus Actinodendron. The tentacles are highly branched and their sting is quite painful. There are several pictures for comparison at http://nhm.ku.edu/inverts/adorian/actinodendronidae.htm

That's a moon snail, genus Euspira. The name change is recent so you'll find most references to it under the old name Polinices. There are several species in the area; the one you saw might be E. lewisii which is common there & one of the bigger ones. They plow along sandy or muddy bottoms...

Might be the algae Neomeris annulata. It's partially calcified which accounts for the white portion.

The specks were probably all kinds of small pods like ostracods, mysids, cumaceans, amphipods, and larval crustaceans, tiny worms, etc. They're bizarre & gorgeous if you can get them under a microscope.

Take a look at chaetognaths AKA arrow worms. http://www.sportesport.it/images/Biology/Plancton/Chaetognatha/sagitta.jpg http://www.microscopy-uk.net/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=6

Colpodaspis thompsoni. See http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall.cfm?base=colpthom Looks like it might not have been reported from the Solomons before. I'm sure Bill Rudman at the Sea Slug Forum would appreciate a post with your lovely pic.

Yes, the blue spots and the scalloped edge of the mantle are characteristic.

You used to be right :) A number of these long-armed Periclimenes have been transferred into the genus Kemponia. Based on the long chela with reddish-brown claws & the yellow spots on the forearms this one appears to be a Kemponia platycheles stuffed full of eggs.

Yes, it's a brittle star. Was there a strong current? Many ophiuroids are switch hitters when it comes to feeding. If the current is strong they will hold their arms up in the water & catch whatever is floating by. When the current is down the arms stretch along the bottom to pick up food.

Eating is highly over-rated. At least that's what I tell myself whenever I buy another batch of id books......;)