Hintermann
Contributor
- Messages
- 1,049
- Reaction score
- 317
- Location
- Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, UK
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I took a picture of this unusual looking nudibranch on the recent trip to Raja Ampat. I have posted it along with a few others in another thread but decided to put it separately because of the responses that I received from a few knowledgeable web sources. Opinions seem to vary from it being a possible hybrid to an optical illusion due to the relative position of my strobes.
I took it at about 18 metres and the critter was the size of my little finger. It is a Nembrotha of some kind but has the features of both N yonowae and N livingstonei. The problem that I find with the "trick of light" theory is that there is a sharp line of colour demarcation between the front and rear halves of the critter near the "waist" (You can see that near the gills)
I sent copies of the image to several nudi sources that I found on the web and most have responded. I did not use the Facebook based one because a few weeks ago I was obliged to close my Facebook account due to being contacted by those that I did not wish to be. If any other SB member wants to borrow the image to make enquiries, please feel free. I am interested in knowing what this critter is.
This flickr link brings-up a full-screen image https://flic.kr/p/piqRMf
I took it at about 18 metres and the critter was the size of my little finger. It is a Nembrotha of some kind but has the features of both N yonowae and N livingstonei. The problem that I find with the "trick of light" theory is that there is a sharp line of colour demarcation between the front and rear halves of the critter near the "waist" (You can see that near the gills)
I sent copies of the image to several nudi sources that I found on the web and most have responded. I did not use the Facebook based one because a few weeks ago I was obliged to close my Facebook account due to being contacted by those that I did not wish to be. If any other SB member wants to borrow the image to make enquiries, please feel free. I am interested in knowing what this critter is.
This flickr link brings-up a full-screen image https://flic.kr/p/piqRMf