On yesterdays afternoon dive at “Nudi Falls” i spend the whole dive photographing Gobies – so i had a 100mm lens on the camera. And i really started regretting that, when reaching Safety Stop level at the end of the dive: Just below the boat was this beautiful pair of Nudibranchs mating. They were Hypselodoris iacula (Fishnet Hypselodoris or Magical Hypselodoris). The adults of this species are 5cm big – so two of them are a relatively big size to shoot with a 100m Macro. But as this type of nudibranchs is one of my favourites i still took some (ok … a lot) shots. Like many Nudibranchs their colours really pop under water – even without light or strobe.
In this picture you can see the mating process very well: The sexual Organs (genital papilla) on the upper left side in the picture are connected. Some species of Nudibranchs copulate very quickly some others take a loooong time – specially Dorid Nudibranchs (to which group also these Hypselodoris belong to). After mating the Nudibranchs will stick eggmass ribbons to rocks or algae. let’s hope their eggs will do well – because of course we would all like to see more of this colourful Nudibranch species.
Critters
The Fascinating Relationship Between the Shrimpgoby and Snapping Shrimp in the Lembeh Strait.
The Lembeh Strait is a well-known area for its rich marine biodiversity and unique marine life. One of the fascinating relationships found in this area is between the shrimpgoby and snapping shrimp. The first section … Read more
1 Comment
Francesco De Marchi · December 23, 2011 at 10:38 am
Wonderful scene !!! My first Hypselodoris iacula was spotted exactly in the same dive site !!!
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