Ceylon gymnodoris Nudibranch
November is a very special time for us on the House Reef at Two Fish Divers Amed. During a couple of weeks at the end of the month is the reproduction season of the Ceylon Gymnodoris. This nudibranch with a transparent white body wears pretty red dots and thin red lines on it’s gills. Even if you are not deliberately looking for the Ceylon gymnodoris, at some point you are almost bound to spot one – we have lots of them here at the moment, and once you have spotted one, well, you start to find them everywhere! Small ones, big ones, pregnant ones, they are spreading around on the black sand, hiking up the mooring line or crawling over each other! It’s definitely been a good breeding season for these guys! The pregnant ones are east to spot with their load of yellow eggs which you can see across their skin. Very soon these bright yellow eggs, which contrast beautifully with the black sand, are going to hatch and they’ll be even more!
This amazing phase of breeding and hatching of the Ceylon gymnodoris usually last for two or three weeks and then the Ceylon Gymnodoris disappear in the same way it arrived – suddenly they are all gone! Of course, they haven’t disappeared, they have matured and have moved on. Many people think they have seen a dive site by diving it just once or twice but there’s nothing like observing how dive sites changes from season to season and this nudibranch hatching period is a great example. Cycles of reproduction, seasonal weather, events, and sea changes transform dive sites and because the House Reef is right on our doorstep and we dive it time and time again, we get to see all of these interesting changes and cycles. It’s truly amazing! For this year the Ceylon gymnodoris will soon all be gone, but our House Reef in Amed is sure to offer us some more surprise soon… we can’t wait for the seahorse season to start!
Would you like to join us for diving in Amed, Bali? Amed is home to some of Bali’s finest muck diving, coral reefs, and wreck dives – the USAT Liberty World War II wreck is also just around the corner from us!
For more information about diving and staying at Two Fish Divers Amed, fill in the form below and we will get right back to you!
