The recently described Cyerce trowbridgeae is known in the Marshalls from numerous specimens found at depths of 7 to 8 meters in a lagoon slope Halimeda algae patch at Kwajalein Atoll. The largest measured 18mm in length.
The animal was observed to alternately wave its paddles forward, then backward, as it crawled along (below)
It almost has the look of a small flower when it sits motionless.
The three photos below appear to tie this species to Cyerce bourbonica. The gray pustules in this small specimen seem to be confined to the lower inside of the dorsal paddles, and the paddle margin and head coloration of the two "species" are similar.
These appear to be young specimens of this Cyerce species.
Created 4 November 2007
Updated 14 June 2025