Encyclopedia

Verco’s NudibranchTambja Verconis This nudibranch looks like it was turned up to full saturation. A rich yellow-green body is scattered with electric blue patches and streaks, while the blue becomes even more intense around the rhinophores, oral veil and gills. The body itself has a slightly wrinkled, almost crumpled texture, which makes the smooth flashes of blue stand out even more. It is a remarkable combination of colors for a temperate-water animal, especially when it appears against the darker greens and browns of its reef habitat. Size: Up to around 130 mm, though 70–90 mm is more typical Range: Southern...

Tiger FlatwormPseudobiceros Cf. Dimidiatus There is a reason this flatworm gets called a Tiger. The black body is slashed with bold yellow-green stripes, separated by a narrow black line and finished with a brilliant orange edge. The markings can vary from broad, clean bands to more broken patterns, but they always have that unmistakable tiger-stripe attitude. Even the contrast feels feline, black and gold with a flash of orange, except this tiger has been flattened into a silky sheet and sent gliding across the reef. Size: Up to around 80 mm Range: Tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and Indian...

Pseudoceros Cf. Prudhoei Almost black across its broad, gently ruffled body, this flatworm carries a cool blue-white band around the edge like a thin line of light. A narrower yellow rim follows just beyond it, while the simple pseudotentacles at the front carry the same striking border. The dark center gives the whole animal a stormy presence, but that narrow flash of color around the edge is what makes it impossible to overlook. Size: Around 30 mm, with some observations reported at 50–80 mm Range: Indo-Pacific; recorded from Australia, Papua New Guinea, India, Kenya, the Maldives, Micronesia, the Philippines and...

Fuchsia FlatwormPseudoceros Ferrugineus A broad wash of vivid fuchsia covers this flatworm, scattered with countless tiny white speckles that become denser toward the center of its back. A deep red band runs around the outer edge, finished with a narrow line of orange-yellow, while the softly ruffled margins give its otherwise flattened body a little movement. Two simple folds at the front form subtle pseudotentacles, making this unusually bright flatworm look almost too flamboyant to hide among the reef rubble. Size: Up to around 45 mm, with some records reaching approximately 60 mm Range: Tropical Indo-Pacific; from the western Indian...

Anna's ChromodorisChromodoris Annae Blue seems to take over this little nudibranch, from its finely speckled back to the broad folds of its mantle, with thick black lines cutting through the color like bold strokes. A bright yellow border runs all the way around the body, edged in white, while orange rhinophores and gills rise above it like small flames. The whole animal has an almost graphic quality, as though someone reduced a reef fish to its strongest possible lines and colors. Size: Up to around 50 mm Range: Indo-West Pacific; from Malaysia and Indonesia through the Philippines to the Marshall...

Diana’s ChromodorisChromodoris Dianae A soft white body gives Diana’s Chromodoris a surprisingly bold canvas for its thick black markings, which break into loose, uneven bands across the back and around the mantle. Bright orange rims the edges, while matching orange rhinophores and a fan of pale gills tipped in yellow rise above the body. Against the dark reef, the contrast is almost graphic, with each black mark looking deliberately placed even though no two seem quite alike. Size: Up to around 40 mm Range: Western Pacific; known from the Philippines, Indonesia and Borneo Habitat / Depth: Coral reefs and rocky...