3 February 2007
Dive Number 1051
Richard's Rock
Mercury Islands


This is, I think, a fourth Doto species from New Zealand and seems to be distinct from the yellow Doto, white Doto and orange Doto.

These things are tiny and you have little idea what they actually look like until you get to review the photographs.

It's located on a hydroid fan close to the top of Richard's Rock.

Possible white coiled egg masses can be seen to the left of the enlarged photo.

3 January 2008
Dive Number 1156
Mary's Wall
Poor Knights Islands


On this dive I get my first good shots of these tiny slugs from the Poor Knights. They look similar to the slugs above from Richard's Rock and Fiordland and I assume they're the same species.

They're on a clump of reddish hydroid which was flopping around in the surge making it very difficult to take photos. After struggling with this for a while, I plucked a off a clump and located in spot where it wouldn't move.

In the middle picture I snapped the slug beside a stainless steel ruler. Marks on the ruler are single milimetres which allow the slug's length to be accurately gauged at 5mm.

Bottom photo: coiled egg mass.