Western Dondice (Dondice occidentalis) – Blue Heron Bridge, Riviera Beach, Fl
This was the first nudibranch I had found all on my own. It seems easy when someone points something out to you, you move in, take pictures, and leave. However, trying to find something tiny (ranging between 3mm-2in) in an environment like Blue Heron Bridge, where there is such a high concentration of life, feels similar to playing ‘Where’s Waldo?’ I had been moving slowly across a bed of Bugula when I saw something different, something with spots. I let out an audible ‘yes’, loud enough to draw my father over to see what I had found – by then, I had tightened up my macro lens and leaned in for these images. In the second image, you can see the annulated rhinophores, tiny black eye, and beautiful speckled cerata (spikes on topside of animal which act as surface area creating ‘gills’ aiding in respiration). In the third image, you can see what appears to be a tiny planktonic creature near the front of the nudibranch, again showing how small this animal is. Nudibranchs are still on the top of my ‘Most Wanted’ list of subjects, as they are for many underwater enthusiasts.
Canon G15, Nauticam NAG15, Inon s2000 (x2), Sola Photo 800, Nauticam CMC-1
1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO80
More Dondice images