Hypselodoris nyalya from Bimini, The Bahamas

June 7, 2003
From: Paul Osmond

Dear Bill,
There is an extremely large population of Hypselodoris nyalya of these nudibranchs living on the wreck of the Sapona in Bimini [Bahamas] in about 20' of water. They are very small, with none being larger than an inch in size. On the single dive I did on the site in March 2003 I found 25-30 specimans. They are easy to over look, an I was only sure they were nudibranchs when I found a speciman in the open and well lit by the sun. The group of 6 pictured were so small it took several close looks to conclude that they were indeed nudi's.

You can see a gallery of 7 images of this species at http://www.deepseaimages.com/dsilibrary/showgallery.php?cat=828&thumb=1

Paul Osmond

marriard@deepseaimages.com

Osmond, P., 2003 (Jun 7) Hypselodoris nyalya from Bimini, The Bahamas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10156

Thanks Paul,
This is an interesting record, suggesting it is probably not as rare as the very few records we have of it suggest. I suspect the group of animals were all clustered around a colony of their food sponge, which I am in the process of getting identified.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Jun 7). Comment on Hypselodoris nyalya from Bimini, The Bahamas by Paul Osmond. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10156

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