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Mimicry in Mimicry!
This is one of my 'dream-encounter' even though I didn't realised it during the dive. Only noticed the Xenia Shrimp - Alcyonohippolyte commensalis on the cerata of the Phyllodesmium jakobsenae when going through my video footages a week after the dive! And luckily, I have just this one decent shot showing the Shrimp on the Nudibranch.
This Phyllodesmium jakobsenae Nudibranch mimics its host the Xenia Corals and also feeds on them.
The Xenia Shrimp can be found on the polyps of the Xenia Corals with similar colouration and markings/patterns, making them very difficult to find/see as they are very small, usually less than 1 cm in size.
Close-up of the Shrimp can be seen here :
''Phyllodesmium jakobsenae'' is a species of sea slug, an aolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Facelinidae. The specific name ''jakobsenae'' is in honor of diver and donator of marine slugs for research, Mrs. Wera Jakobsen.
comments (3)
The Nudibranch mimics the Corals.
The Shrimp actually mimics the Corals too, looking like the polyps of the corals.
But in this picture, as the cerata of the Nudibranch also looks like the polyps of the corals, indirectly, the Shrimp is mimicking the Nudibranch when it rested on the cerata of the Nudibranch.
Look for the eyes of the Shrimp, I sent pic of it pointing where the Shrimp is to your FB :D Posted 5 years ago