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New Janolid species?
Peter Southwood and Georgina Jones on a dive at the Paws, Clifton, spotted this nudibranch, which is either a very unusual colour variation of the gasflame nudibranch, or a completely new Janolid species.
For more details click here.
Olive nudibranch Facelina olivacea at Long Beach.
Luke Harris photographed this nudibranch at Long Beach. It is a rarely seen species, although it does occur around the Peninsula. For more details click here.
Unusual nudibranchs at Oudekraal
After the recent sighting of the three-spot nudibranch at Oudekraal, a few more unusual species were seen in the same area, including a few more thee-spot nudibranchs, a warty dorid and a couple of small-spot dorids. For more details click here.
Three-spot dorid Aldisa trimaculata at Oudekraal
This rare nudibranch was spotted close to Justin's Caves, Oudekraal, at about 10m. It has only been photographed a few times before: at Cow and Calf near Gordon's Bay, and on one of the Hout Bay Sentinel sites. For more details click here.
Spearnose skate Rostroraja alba at Fan Reef.
Alessandro De Grandis saw this large skate "fly" past him at Fan Reef. For more details click here.
Juvenile sock anemones Preactis millardae
Charl from Alpha Divers pointed out something which looked somewhat like a nudibranch on a dive at Pie Rock. The photos were inconclusive, so SURG searched at Castle Rocks for something similar, expecting it to be on multi-coloured sea fans, where the first few were seen. Luck was on our side, finding several, and because we found larger ones managed to establish that they are juvenile sock anemones! For more details click here.
Porky's and Scorpionfish
Another porky, Stephanolepis auratus, was seen at A-Frame, and photographed by Haupt Cloete.
The Tasseled scorpionfish Scorpaenopsis oxycephala is still being sighted regularly, but this is the first record of it from Long Beach, in 6m of water only - the furthest west and shallowest thus far. Phil Parr photographed it. For more details click here.
Haminoea alfredensis at Long Beach
This is a first sighting for SURG of this species of headshield slug (a type of nudibranch.) It is known to ocurr on both sides of the Peninsula. For more details click here.
Sea hare population explosion at Long Beach
Two uncommon species, the shaggy sea hare and the spotted sea hare, are suddenly much more common at Long Beach than before. For more details click here.
Exotics from deeper waters of Nigeria
Marjanna Dumville shared these images, taken during deeper water explorations using a remote operated vehicle: an unusual cephalopod, a chimaera and a walking frog or angler fish. Update: more details on the odd squid, whose common name is "piglet squid". For more details click here.
Shaggy nudibranch Bursatella leachi at Long Beach
Phil Parr photographed this unusual nudibranch at Long Beach, about the only place in Cape Town it has been seen before. For more details click here.
Natal knifejaw Oplegnathus robinsoni at A-Frame:
Dieter Stegeman saw this juvenile at A-Frame. While similar to the Cape knifejaw, the higher number of black bars sets it apart. For more details click here.
Possibly new species of Eubranchus: Several of these nudibranchs were found at Partridge Point, although it had been photographed in 1985 at a different location. It is possibly a new species.
For more details click here.
Cleaner shrips Stenopus sp. at Long Beach: This unusual visitor was photographed at Long Beach by Phil Parr
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Rosy or blacksaddle goatfish Parupeneus rubescens at Long Beach: These two visitors were found at Long Beach by Phil Parr.
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Unusual and new Atlantic Seaboard Nudibranchs: A number of unusual and rare, as well as possibly a new species of nudibranch were seen lately on Atlantic seaboard dive sites.
For more details click here.
Crinoid shrimp has a name: Hippolyte catagrapha. The paper describing this new and striking species has finally been published! For more details click here.
More Porky's Stephanolepis auratus: Dieter Stegemann saw two of these fish at the wreck of the "Clan Stuart". It is a rare visitor, becoming a touch more common!
For more details click here.
Unusual nudibranchs from Vulcan Rock: Peter Southwood photographed two unusual species: Noumea protea or the Protea dorid, and Acanthodoris sp., the fluffy dorid, a rare species previously only known from western False Bay.
For more details click here.
Porky Stephanolepis auratus: Phil Parr saw this fish at A-Frame. It is a rare visitor, previously seen at Long Beach.
For more details click here.
More Flutemouth! After seeing one at Long Beach in January, Dieter Stegemann saw two more swimming together at Windmill.
For more details click here.
Iridescent nudibranch with skeleton shrimp hitchhiker: While taking photos of the convoluted gills of the iridescent nudibranch it was noticed that skeleton shrimps were hitching a ride! Examining previous photographs revealed that this was not first time, and a subsequent search revealed more.
For more details click here.