the gorgeous enemy - jaw dropping zoanthid eating nudi

[whodah]

so i asked my buddy weatherson to take some close ups of some nudis next time he had a chance.

weatherson is GREAT at photos... if you havn't heard of his '240G inwall' project, yer in for a treat!

at any rate, man, did he deliver.

these are up on zoaid.com - i started a 'predator' gallery. gotta keep yer friends close and enemies closer, eh?

weatherson's 240 inwall project: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=553571

zoaid's predator gallery: http://www.zoaid.com/gallery2/v/zoanthid_predators/

and best for last, the incredible nudi shots. it's a where's waldo scenario on the first pic!

 

[whodah]

meant to add: it once again showcases how these little hosers blend in w/ their surroundings to the extreme level!

 

[rhoodhouse]

This is great whodah thanks

 

[Reef Junkie]

Jeremy,
You've done it again! good work man.
Bill

 

[Dwarfpufferfish]

Little B#$%ards

 

[whodah]

rhoodhouse: yer welcome, glad ya like it!

Reef Junkie: ty sir! of course the credit goes to weatherson

Dwarfpufferfish: indeed!

 

[sttaylor]

How the hell are you supposed to see that unless it is fleeing the scene in a fresh water dip?

Scott

 

[SuperFishy]

squish squash!

 

[lil_fishey]

im gunna agree with Dwarfpufferfish

 

[Daemonfly]

How the hell are you supposed to see that unless it is fleeing the scene in a fresh water dip?

Scott

Thats the whole point of camouflage!

 

[whodah]

for those having a hard time 'seeing' it, weatherson added some yellow circles highlighting them for our local club. so i added those to zoaid.com too:

http://www.zoaid.com/gallery2/v/zoanthid_predators/nudibranch/metalicorangenudi/

 

[floridareefs]

whodah--that is great work! thanks

 

[PUGroyale]

That's amazing how they mimic the zoanthid polyps... great Pics :thumbsup: Can they change coloration as well? Say to match green zoa skirts?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

squish squash!

No, no...we don't squish the little bastards. We flush them. Squishing is a very bad idea.

Thanks for sharing those pics!

 

[Jovreefer]

I'm tagging along with PU ... I've seen 2 pics of them on orange skirt zoa's now...no other colors yet...

They really are pretty...I'd get a whole bunch if they did not eat the zoas. amazing pics!

 

[skyedolphan]

I agree when I had a few of them last year they always seemed to be on the red and orange zoas more often than elsewhere didnt stop everyrock in my tank from getting a dip though

 

[whodah]

kind of an interesting shot - worthy of a bump!

weatherson took these two shots of a Juvenile Nudi.

note it's camoflauge coloration **already**!

 

[wetWolger]

wow nice pics....well done, thanks

 

[whodah]

as much as i hate bumping this thread...



weatherson keeps on outdoing himself!! impossible you say? well, be your own judge!

quoted w/ his permission, pics/story added to ZoaID.com w/ his permission:

weatherson said:
OK... found these two jokers tonight and due to their sheer size, decided a photo shoot was in order.

And here's a series of shots of a pretty interesting situation. I'd swirled the water around to get them in a better position. The larger of the two ended up in a bottom up position. Then, the smaller guy comes over to him and seemingly pushes on the flipped guy. This guy finally rights himself and the helper immediately turns and heads off away from the now righted guy. I swear it looked as though he helped him out and then moved on once things were corrected. Bizarre.

Joseph

 

[whodah]

heh, one of the replies on our club site said:

oh great... they have medics!!!