Home Acknowledgments Conventions Glossary Maps References Links Articles Thumbnails Species list Family Next species _______________   Additional Photos   side   underside   front young, 2 mm   swimming   egg mass _______________   GALLERY	Cyerce bourbonica Yonow, 2012   Maximum size:  10 mm (Scott Johnson). Identification:  The is a cream animal with brown pigment on its notum and brown reticulation on it's rhinophores. The cerata are roughly diamond-shaped and tuberculate with dark pigment basally and a margin decorated with orange and violet spots. Natural history:  Cyerce bourbonica is a moderately rare species found in protected to exposed rocky habitats and Halimeda kanaloana beds at depths of < 1 to 6 m (< 3 to 20 ft). It jerks its cerata intermittently while crawling and can also swim, if disturbed, by arching its body and flapping its cerata up and down. That makes it look very much like a small jellyfish "pulsing" through the water. (see photos) It lays a spiral, cream egg mass that hatches in about four days in the laboratory. Distribution:  Big Island, Maui, Oahu and Kauai: widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. Taxonomic notes:  The species was first recorded in Hawaii at Kewalo Reef, Oahu by Scott Johnson on April 14, 1978. It was named for Bourbon, the original name of the island of La Réunion, the type locality. Photo:  CP: 6 mm: Hekili Point, Maui; Sept. 20, 1998. Observations and comments: Note 1:  ( )
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