Goniobranchus albopunctatus (Garrett, 1879)
70mm

This species is rare in the Marshall Islands. We've seen a dozen individuals at Enewetak Atoll and one at Kwajalein. All individuals observed have been on lagoon reefs in shallow water, all less than 8 meters depth. Our specimens ranged in size up to about 70mm, making it one of the larger chromodorids in this area. We also have specimens from Hawaii. Its first Marshall Islands record was as Chromodoris briqua at Enewetak Atoll by Marcus & Burch (1965).

The one below was the large, 70mm specimen.

The shot below shows the single Kwajalein specimen.

This side view shows the bright yellow foot.

The photo below shows a relatively small specimen from Enewetak. It pretty well matches the description of a species Marcus and Burch (1965) described from Enewetak as Chromodoris briqua, which is a young color form of G. albopunctatus.

A close look at the anterior end illustrates the mesmerizing color pattern.

Created 13 December 2005
Updated 1 July 2012

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