COMMENTS & OBSERVATIONS

We celebrated the last day of 2024 with a shore dive at Rose Bay. The beach was uncrowded as we geared up and headed out with an incoming tide. Visibility across the sand was good, but dropped off as we approached the reef. The shallow rocks that previously hosted numbers of Elysia sp. were covered in Sargassum so we did not spend much time searching them. We headed east across the reef, seeking out rubble patches amongst the beautiful corals. Our first find was the Trapania vitta, with several of the species found out in the slightly deeper section of the reef (6m), which also hosts spaghetti soft corals and sea whips. The most interesting find was the Lobiger sp. which was found attached to a piece of floating Sargassum on the sand in the middle of the bay, sometimes you just get lucky! Although the abundance of each species was low and a lot of searching was required, we were happy with the final tally, which includes some new sightings for this site and new sightings for us for this region. Nine of the 16 species recorded had not been recorded by us at this site previously.

Taxonomic Diversity:
Eleven of the sixteen sighted species were nudibranchs, with all 11 being dorids comprising 3 x phanerobranchs (non-retractile gill), 5 x porostome (suctorial feeders  of the Phyllidiidae family), 3 x cryptobranch (retractable gill) and 0 x cladobranchs comprising 0 x aeolid, 0 x arminid and 0 x dendronotinids. 3 x cephalspideans (headshield slugs) and 2 x sacoglossans (sap-suckers) complete the species count. If diet is considered, 8 of the 16 species sighted were spongivores. 29 specimens in total were recorded.

Our Historical data:
– We have now completed 10 survey dives at this site since our first survey here on 21/11/2022. (One of these surveys was conducted on snorkel and this had been missed in previous reports.)
– We have now recorded 45 species at this site.
– This is the first occasion on which we have recorded Gymnodoris sp. 09, Lobiger sp. 01, Philinopsis speciosa and Phyllidia exquisita in the Whitsundays.
– This is the first occasion on which we have recorded Atys semistriatus, Hypselodoris whitei, Niparaya sp. 01, Phyllidia varicosa and Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa at this site.
– We recorded more species on this dive than we have on any previous survey at this site.
– Our last survey at this site was on 19/10/2024

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

TOTAL SPECIES SIGHTED: 16

DIVE IMAGES GALLERY

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