Corambe steinbergae from California
September 20, 2007
From: Clinton Bauder
Hi Bill,
I spent some time at the end of a dive off of Pfieffer Point looking for nudibranchs up in the top of the kelp canopy. The Macrocystis kelp was almost completely covered in bryozoans and hydroids and was loaded with Flabellina trilineata and Dendronotus frondosus. After much searching I finally found this little Corambe. Interestingly my camera found several more of them (sadly out of focus) while I was shooting other subjects leading me to believe they were rather abundant. As you can see from this picture, though, they are nearly invisible on their bryozoan prey. Certainly I was having trouble finding them. Based on the lack of a posterior notch I think this one is Corambe steinbergae.
Locality: Compost (Pfeiffer Point), 6 meters, Monterey, CA, USA, Pacific, 18 August 2007, Macrocystis Kelp Blade. Length: 4 mm. Photographer: Clinton Bauder.
Clinton Bauder
gecko1@apple.com
Bauder, C., 2007 (Sep 20) Corambe steinbergae from California. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20527
Hi Clinton,
Your identification of this highly cryptic species is perfect. I have often said that because of the food resource of the immense surface area of kelp fronds and the encrusting bryozoans on them, that Corambe has to be the most abundant species along this coast.
This species was named after Joan Steinberg, by her friend James Lance. The genus designation has bounced around several times, with different authors placing the species in Doridella, Suhinia and Paracorambe. Hopefully it will remain in Corambe permanently.
Thanks,
Dave Behrens
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Corambe steinbergae from California
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