COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS

Conditions were perfect for a shore dive at Horseshoe Bay. A relatively early start meant that we were able to avoid the holiday crowds and embark on a dive around the western headland. Although not a lot of species were sighted we were pleased to find a new species of Cerberilla for our list. This species bears a close resemblance to Cerberilla sp. 9 in Gosliner et al, 2018, but it is not that species. The critter quickly buried itself in the soft substrate and we were unable to find it to get further photos.

Taxonomic Diversity:
4 of the species sighted were nudibranchs, with 2 being dorids comprising 2 x phanerobranchs (non-retractile gill) and 0 x cryptobranch (retractable gill) and 0 x porostomes (suctorial feeders). The other 2 nudibranchs were aeolids. A single sacoglossan rounds out the species count.

Our Historical data:
– We have now completed 8 surveys at this site since our first on 12/06/2018.
– 18 species have been recorded at this site.
– This site last surveyed on 09/04/2023
(Historical data courtesy of Terry Farr, who extracts it from his comprehensive database.)

Guide to Symbols:
+++ New Species
+ First time sighted at this site
# Most commonly sighted at this site with %

TOTAL SPECIES SIGHTED: 5

DIVE IMAGES GALLERY

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