Noumea cf romeri Risbec, 1928

I don't really think this is Noumea romeri, but it is close enough that it should be compared. The single Enewetak Atoll specimen was lighter pink; all of the more than a dozen observed at Kwajalein were darker pink like most of the photos below. Specimens were found on lagoon interisland, pinnacle, and leeward seaward reefs under dead coral at depths of 4 to 12 meters. Four measured specimens ranged from 10 to 14mm. This species eats the same pink sponge as N. simplex.

The pair in the following photos was found eating pink sponge under a rock on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon pinnacle at a depth of about 8m on 30 November 2008. Notice how the margins especially on the larger one bulge out midlaterally, similar to what is seen in Noumea decussata and N. simplex.

The lighter pink specimen in the next photo was found on 18 August 1981 at 4m in the lagoon of Enewetak Atoll.

The white border around the specimen below is more like other figured specimens of Noumea romeri, such as that in Gosliner et al (2008). It was a 14mm specimen under dead coral on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon reef on 14 August 2010. The lower photo shows it as found, on its prey pink sponge, before it got disturbed and started crawling away.

Created 19 December 2005
Updated 29 August 2010

Return to chromodorid thumbnails

UnderwaterKwaj home