Thanks again, Cory Pittman, for your diligent detective skills!
Gymnodoris sp. 12
This is a tiny gymnodoris, maybe 8 mm max and it appears to enjoy eating the eggs of other gymnodoris. I’ve caught one in the act twice now! Apparently, I first documented this species in January of 2020 — see photo of miniscule gymnodoris in same basic vicinity as much larger Gymnodoris okinawae. Unbeknownst to me, I found another feeding on Gymnodoris eggs in November 2023 off of Ko’ie’ie Fishpond, Nth Kihei and again in December of 2024 in pretty much the same area of shallow rubble and boulders. The solitary individual wandering on its own was captured in November 2023 as well. The Sea Slugs of Hawaii site has an image of one that is much darker in colour but the translucent white body and rhinophores, diminutive size and widely spaced tubercles seems consistent with the animals documented there. The colour seen through its body is likely related to the colour of the eggs it is indulging in.