These animals are not an exact match to the recently described Murphydoris puncticulata, but particularly the smaller ones lower on the page are pretty close. While it is possible there are multiple species figured on this page, at present we think they are all variations of one. This species is known in the Marshalls from four specimens found at Enewetak Atoll and several at Kwajalein. They all measured 2 to 6mm in length and under dead coral on lagoon reefs or pinnacles or in reef quarries at depths of 1 to 10 meters. Like a number of other very small species, they are often overlooked, so they are probably more common than they seem. The top two photos closely resembles Goniodoridella sp. 1 in Gosliner et al (2018) and are of one of the Kwajalein specimens, found under a rock at a depth of 7m on a lagoon reef on 21 June 2009. This one was the largest, measuring 6mm in length.
This smaller specimen came from one of the Kwajalein reef quarries in July 2016. It has much shorter rhinophores than the one figured above, so initially we were unsure of the identification. However, we have noticed this species seems to be able to contract and stretch its rhinophores considerably.
Very small individual from August 2016. It looks like Goniodoridella sp. 7 in Gosliner et al (2018), but I suspect it is a juvenile of the others on this page.
Another medium sized individual.
The one below was one of the Enewetak specimens, photographed through a dissecting microscope.
Created 3 January 2007
Updated 16 March 2022