Tambja kava

Tambja Kava

This one looks like it escaped from a science-fiction movie. The body is an intense, almost fluorescent green, covered in fine reddish lines that give the surface a corrugated texture. Two tall, ridged rhinophores rise from the head like bizarre alien antennae, shifting from reddish brown into deep violet at the tips, while the small gills behind them carry the same dark purple coloring. Even the tail seems to glow, fading into pale translucent lobes with violet tips. Against the fiery reef in the photograph, the effect is completely surreal. It barely looks like a real animal, let alone something only a couple of centimeters long.

• Size: Around 15–25 mm
• Range: Western Pacific, known from Vanuatu, with additional records reported from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands
• Habitat / Depth: Coral reefs and lagoons, around 5–15 m
• Diet: Believed to feed on bryozoans, although its diet is not yet firmly established