Only one chance to swim this weekend and we popped down to snorkel from the sea scout jetty at Beaumaris. This area is a bit covered in filamentous algae at the moment, so it isn’t easy to find things. Nevertheless, the moment we entered the water we spotted a Blue-lined Headshield Slug, with its orange headlights, go-faster stripes and racing foils. This is a species we see only occasionally, in comparison to the more abundant Line-tailed Headshield Slugs. They are carnivorous and feed on other snails and slugs, engulfing them whole!
Chances are they would also eat this Elysia maoria (below) if given the opportunity. These guys are a darker version of the species we often see around this time of year. They are sap-sucking, or herbivirous sea slugs, and when observed closely have very small orange spots on a dark green body and white trimming. Quite smart but also tiny.
We also came across this Granular Seastar, another carnivorous beast. They feed on sea squirts, like the ones I wrote about here, as well as snails.
A final surprise was this Australostichopus mollis sea cucumber. Sea cucumbers are important for reefs but you don’t see them very often. Even then, most of the species occurring in Port Phillip Bay are quite small. This one was almost 15cm long. This is another one of those species that is confined to southern
