| On January 2 I came across the extremely rare nudi- branch Lophodoris danielsseni and managed to get some good photos. The nudibranch is known only from the Norwegian west coast and southern Greenland, according to Seaslugforum. It was photographed for the first time ever in 2006 by Kåre Telnes, and then again by swedish photographer Klas Malmberg two years later. |
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| The extremely rare nudibranch Lophodoris danielsseni was photographed at Gulen - maybe for the third time ever. |
| It seems I'm only the third photographer to capture this rare nudibranch on camera - incidentally at the exact same spot as Klas Malmberg did. We both came across this small dorid at 25 meters depth at the house reef of Gulen Dive Resort, a couple hours north of Bergen on the Norwegian west coast (map link). The most distinctive feature of the Lophodoris danielsseni is the nature of the mantle skirt, which has been described as umbrella-like because it is supported by a series long spicules, which radiate out at right angles from the body to the mantle edge like the ribs of an umbrella, Seaslugforum states. The specimen pictured was no more than 7-8 mm long. Another slightly bigger specimen (12 mm) was found just centimeters away. » You like nudibranchs? Join my Nudibranch Safari at Gulen in March 2010! This rare find just goes to show that there are still creatures out there most of us has not yet seen. A keen eye and patient searching sometimes pays off - and the new year is definitely off to a good start. » Read more about Lophodoris danielsseni at Seaslugforum They also posted my images at the forum - click here Want to see more images? Click below!  |
