I was diving on the Bottom Scratcher Bottom Scratcher this weekend off of Catalina. At Ship Rock, my dive buddy and I came upon this Navanax catching up on an unaware Hermissenda Crassicornis (I'll call him "Hermi" for short). The Navanax follows the scent trail in the slime of the nudibranches that it eats.
First, we have the Navanax almost catching its prey:
An then Navanax catches Hermi and takes a bite:
Followed by complete destruction of th Hermi. Spines were scattered everywhere:
Its meal finished, the Navanax moved along to find more victims, while still covered by the crumbs of it's last meal:
These 800 x 600 photos don't do justice to the detail. I just wish I hadn't blown out the highlights on the Hermissenda.
David
Olympus 5060
Ike housing
DS-125 strobe with TTL
