Today’s nudibranch is most likely either Plocamopherus lucayensis or Plocamopherus pilatectus… or possible some other Plocamopherus species that is not listed in my ID book. What is throwing me off is that Plocamopherus lucayensis is supposed to have white papillae (little bumps) with black rings at the base whereas Plocamopherus pilatectus is only supposed to have white spots and the first individual here has both whereas the others only have the black-bordered white papillae. Additionally, the ranges for each of these species in my ID book does not list Florida at all, so who knows?
Regardless, I found these during a single night dive at the Blue Heron Bridge and though I often checked back at the same area on subsequent night dives, I never found them again. So I was glad that I was able to capture some pretty good photos of a fairly unique nudibranch.
Laura K.
August 17, 2021 at 5:59amLucayan Plocamopherus (Plocamopherus lucayensis) for sure.