Matt
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xenomatt.bsky.social
Matt
@xenomatt.bsky.social
630 followers 680 following 1.5K posts
Scuba, nerdery, science, and what makes people tick. Expat Brit in Canada.

Pics mine unless otherwise credited.
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xenomatt.bsky.social
One last #Nudivember post. Here is Doriprismatica atromarginata coming to check you out. Most places seem to call this a black-margined nudibranch (rather boring) but I also saw it referred to as a cheesecake nudibranch, which is a much better name!

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A nudibranch moving toward the camera over algae-covered rock. It is white, with a dark brown back and a black marginal band; it has black rhinopores and gills. The mantle is raised at the front so the oral tentacles are visible. #UnderwaterPhotography #MacroPhotography #Macro #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography
November 30, 2025 at 4:38 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Nudibutt!

#Nudivember #Invertebrates #MarineLife 🌿

Chromodoris sp., but I really don't know which species
A nudibranch crawling away from the camera over algae-covered rock. It is pale blue with a white marginal band, yellow rhinopores and gills, and irregular black stripes on the body #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Wildlife #Nature
November 28, 2025 at 10:52 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Chamberlain's Nembrotha (Nembrotha chamberlaini) having a good look around... or at least, it would be, if it had eyes!

#MarineLife #Nudivember #Invertebrates 🌿
A white nudibranch with large brown patches on its back; there are smaller yellow and blue areas as well. It has reddish rhinopores. It is rearing up so only the rear part of it is on the rock. #UnderwaterPhotography #WildlifePhotography #Macro #Wildlife #Nature
November 27, 2025 at 12:46 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
You will be visited by three spirits
Motorhead. This is a cropped version of the photo that was the cover of Ace of Spades
November 26, 2025 at 2:33 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A couple of pics of a pair from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao. I think this is a phyllosoma (the larval stage of a lobster) riding a purple-striped jelly which is really too small for it... ID very tentative in both cases though!

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🦀🌿
A translucent, ten-legged crustacean on top of a jellyfish. The crustacean has very few visible features. The jellyfish has a few short, pale brown tentacles, and some purple organs are visible inside the bell. The pair are seen from underneath which makes it obvious that the crustacean is larger than the jellyfish it has commandeered for a ride. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature #NaturePhotography A translucent, ten-legged crustacean on top of a jellyfish. The crustacean has small hairs/spines on its legs but very few other visible features. The jellyfish has a few short, pale brown tentacles, and some purple organs are visible inside the bell. The two are about the same size which gives a very top-heavy appearance to the picture. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature #NaturePhotography
November 23, 2025 at 4:41 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
One of the great things about being a nudibranch is that if you have no eyes, you can't see what's happening on Bluesky last night/this morning.

This is Caloria indica. Pic from Anilao.

#MarineLife 🌿 #Invertebrates
A relatively long, thin nudibranch. Its body is white with orange stripes. It has a white tail, white rhinopores with a blue/purple band at the base, and it is covered in cerata that have an orange base, a blue band at the midpoint, and a white tip. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Nature
November 22, 2025 at 4:13 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Lovely day on the internet meme
November 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
This is a pinkeye goby (Bryaninops natans) from Anilao. Or maybe a purple-eye goby, depending on who you listen to. I think it's more pink :)

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
A small fish sheltering on the lobes of a finger coral. It has a large, bright pink eye and part of its head is also pink; the rest of the fish is largely transparent but the spine and some internal organs are visible #UnderwaterPhotography #Nature #Wildlife #Macro #WildlifePhotography
November 21, 2025 at 1:36 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Today's #Nudivember post is another of Anilao's denizens... this is a Phyllidia of some sort. Maybe P. elegans, but P. varicosa is also possible

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A nudibranch viewed from the side on algae-covered rock. It has a blue-grey body which is covered in tubercles; they are white and the larger ones have yellow tops. There are a few black lines running over the body in between the tubercles. Small yellow rhinopores are just visible. #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro
November 16, 2025 at 8:49 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Today's nudibranch is Diversidoris crocea. My book calls it a saffron noumea, but it doesn't seem to have any widely accepted common name, which seems a shame. Pic from Anilao.

#Nudivember #MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A bright yellow nudibranch crawling over an algae-covered surface. It has a white/pale yellow marginal band but no other markings. I think that the stubby rhinopore is not damaged but just foreshortened because it's pointing straight at the camera. #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro
November 14, 2025 at 10:38 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A flatfish of some sort (I have no idea what sort) in Anilao

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
A flatfish lying on sand. Its speckled body blends in very well with the sand grains. The mouth and protruding eyes are prominent features #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography
November 13, 2025 at 1:13 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A bunch of yellow-tipped phyllodesmium (Phyllodesmium briareum), an aeolid nudibranch. I have no idea why there were so many of them gathered together.

#Nudivember #MarineLife 🌿 #Invertebrate
The surface of a reef, with several small nudibranchs on it. All that can be easily seen of them is their cerata, which are light brown with yellow tips; they look like clusters of tentacles that one might normally associate with an anemone or similar creature. #NAture #Wildlife #UnderwaterPhotography #WildlifePhotography #Macro
November 11, 2025 at 3:03 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
I'm not sure *why* we're snailposting, but... okay! Here's a veliger of I know not what species. Pic from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A snail veliger. The familiar-looking orange shell points towards the camera; three translucent tentacle-like structures protrude from the mouth of the shell (there are actually four, but one is hidden in this pic) #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
November 9, 2025 at 6:54 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Goniobranchus aureopurpureus, Anilao

#Nudivember #MarineLife 🌿
A nudibranch (a kind of sea slug) moving over sand towards the camera. Its body is white with the top side covered in yellow spots; the edge of the mantle has a ring of purple spots around it. The gills and rhinopores are brown with white markings on them, and pushed to one side by a slight current. The mantle is lifted at the front so that the tentacles and mouth are visible; the underside of the nudibranch is white with no other markings. #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro
November 8, 2025 at 9:27 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
It's #Nudivember, so... here we go with the nudibranchs! This one is Hypselodoris apolegma, protographed in Anilao.

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A bright purple nudibranch crawling over coral, seen from the side. It has orange rhinopores and yellow gills, and a white marginal band with a speckled transition into the purple body. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife
November 5, 2025 at 12:41 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Since it's #WorldJellyfishDay, here's one I saw on a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife #Invertebrates
A jellyfish. It has a long central stem under the bell and only a few tentacles. #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #UnderwaterPhotography
November 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
You're on a blackwater dive, drifting in darkness. A ghostly being emerges from the gloom... what could it be? Is it made entirely of ectoplasm?

I'm pretty sure it's a pteropod of some kind - I think this is a pelagic nudibranch

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A pelagic nudibranch, with its 'wings' spread out. A small portion of the gut is easily visible but the rest of it is translucent. #Macro #Nature #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography A pelagic nudibranch. A small portion of the gut is easily visible but the rest of it is translucent. #Macro #Nature #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography A pelagic nudibranch, with its 'wings' spread out. A small portion of the gut is easily visible but the rest of it is translucent. #Macro #Nature #UnderwaterPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 31, 2025 at 10:04 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
TBH... I don't have many pics of them. I'm sure I've swum past a lot, but those decorations make for *very* effective camouflage.

But here is a hermit crab dressed up as a sea anemone :)
A hermit crab with sea anemones stuck to its shell
October 31, 2025 at 3:01 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Bonus #SeaSlugDay post: Nembrotha kubaryana, which is probably my favourite nudibranch. Pic from Lembeh.

#MarineLife #Invertebrate 🌿
A head-on view of a black sea slug with bright markings. It has green lines on its body and bright orange gills, rhinopores and tentacles #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature
October 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Apparently today is #SeaSlugDay! This nudibranch is (I think) Ardeadoris egretta. Pic from Anilao.

#MarineLife #Invertebrate 🌿
A white nudibranch; the only colour on it is a yellow margin on the mantle. It is crawling over coral rubble. #Nature #Wildlife #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #WildlifePhotograpy #NaturePhotography
October 29, 2025 at 10:21 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
It's a mantis shrimp kinda day, I think. This one is from Anilao. I'm not sure what it is - maybe a blue-spot mantis shrimp (Haptosquilla stoliura)

#MarineLife #Invertebrates 🌿
A mantis shrimp in the entrance to its burrow in the sand. It has red antennae, white eyes, mottled red/brown raptorial appendages and a turquoise bit under the eyes (I'm not sure what that is) #UnderwaterPhotography #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 29, 2025 at 12:04 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
I have no idea what this fish is... likely a juvenile of some sort. Pic from a blackwater dive in Balayan Bay, Anilao

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
The front half of an orange fish; the tail can just be seen in the background as it turns across the camera. The bright orange eye is very prominent and the pelvic fins are splayed out below its body. #UnderwaterPhotography #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature #Macro
October 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
Friday night crab-posting... a very small crab sheltering between the spines of a radiant sea urchin. I have no clue what it is though.

#MarineLIfe #Invertebrate 🦀🌿
A small brown crab with some white markings. It is clinging on to the dark brown/red spines of a sea urchin; the urchin's red skin with vivid blue dots is visible around the crab. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #Nature #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A very fuzzy critter that I nearly stepped on when leaving home the other day. Glad I noticed it in time!

#bugsky #Invertebrates 🌿
A black and red caterpillar crawling over a doormat. It is covered in coarse hairs. #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography
October 23, 2025 at 11:49 PM
xenomatt.bsky.social
A jawfish, cautiously peering out of its burrow in Anilao. This is far and away the most common way to see them; they tend to be rather shy. I think this one is a yellowbarred jawfish (Opistognathus randalli).

#MarineLife 🌿🐟
The head of a small fish, protruding from a burrow in coral rubble. It is greyish with a white chin, has a downturned mouth, and prominent yellow marks on the top of its eyes. #Nature #Wildlife #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #WildlifePhotography
October 23, 2025 at 10:58 PM