San Miguel critters

The last dive on San Miguel, CA resulted in two critters I could not ID. Any help and pointers are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi Sergio --

the first is the lion's mane nudibranch, Mellibe leonina. It looks like an older animal with curious black dots. I wonder if those are amphipods or a type of parasite?

the other is the detached "stem" portion of the siphonophore Praya. complete animals have a big transparent bell on one end.

The second photo looks more like Apolemia to me than Praya. Apolemia has that nice fuzzy look to it, where as the feeding polyps in Praya tend to hang straight down when extended and looks simpler overall, usual yellow/orange in color too.

Cheers,

Wyatt

Thanks Wyatt. It's good to have someone who actually knows something answer these questions!

Thank you! Always a pleasure do learn something new.

Most welcome, great photo!