COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS

Surface conditions were lovely as we headed across to the island, deciding to limit our search to the south side. We were hoping for good visibility, given the clarity observed in-shore the day before. We anchored in around 6m of water and could just see the bottom. We chose to reel down to 12m and check out the slightly deeper area. Visibility was acceptable to start with at around 4m despite the high silt level, however after 30mins the visibility started to reduce and after returning to the reel we headed into shallower water. After watching fish swimming amongst the coral bommies during our surface interval we chose to stay shallower for the second dive as the visibility was much nicer. Although we only found two species of nudibranch on the second dive, we did see a Leopard Shark and enjoyed exploring a new habitat. We consider that the amount of rubble also available at this site should host a far greater number of nudibranchs than we are recording so will just have to keep looking.

Taxonomic Diversity:
7 of the 8 species sighted were nudibranchs, with 6 being dorids comprising 2 x phanerobranchs (non-retractile gill), 4 x porostomes (suctorial feeders – all of the Phyllidiidae family) and 1 x cladobranch comprising 1 x dendronotinid. A single sacoglossan rounds out the species count. If diet is considered then 5 of the 8 species sighted are spongivores.

Our Historical Data:
Middle Is South
– We have now completed 4 surveys at this site and have recorded 18 species here since our first survey on 13/02/2023.
– Given the small number of dives at this site, it is not surprising that all but one of the species recorded were our first recordings for the site;
– We have recorded Phyllidiella pustulosa on each of our surveys at this site.
– This site last surveyed 02/03/2023

TOTAL SPECIES SIGHTED: 8

DIVE IMAGES GALLERY

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