Sea Slug Census 2026 Report
Goniobranchus setoensis
The Ninth South Coast (NSW) Sea Slug Census
Saturday the 11th to Thursday the 30th of April, from Green Cape to Kiama
A special thanks to everyone that participated in this year’s 9th South Coast Sea Slug Census.
The aim of this South Coast Sea Slug Census was to find the different sea Slug species found along this coast and record these species onto iNaturalist. From the data collected, it can be determined if any sea Slugs have been seen south of their previously known limit, likely due to warming sea conditions and an intensifying East Australian Current.
As part of this Sea Slug Census, guided tours were held at Eden, Merimbula and Bermagui which were booked out with lots of enthusiastic sea slug observers onboard. Thanks to all those that attended these guided tours and to the individuals that went out on their own to find and record the different sea slugs in their area.
This year, the South Coast Sea Slug Census included the region from the NSW border up to Narooma.
The Jervis Bay Sea Slug Census was conducted at the same time, so the border for this census was brought back to Narooma to prevent any overlap of the species recorded in both censuses.
Overall, the 9th South Coast Sea Slug census was a great success with 59 observations of 26 species. The species that was most observed was the Clown Doris (Ceratosoma amoenum) with 7 observations, followed closely by Bennett’s Hypselodoris(Hypselodoris bennetti) with 6 observations.
Overall, there was a great mixture of different sea slugs found and recorded with representatives from the different groups including sea hares (Aplysia spp.), saccoglossans, headshields, dorid and aeolid nudibranchs, and bubble shells.
Most of the sea slugs found, had been observed in previous South Coast Sea Slug Censuses, but at this 2026 Sea Slug Census, there was a standout, which was Goniobranchus setoensis (as pictured above) found in the Blue Pools in Bermagui by Paul Kneale. This species has only recently been recorded this far south, so this was an important find for this census.
Also, a special thanks to everybody that supported this event, including Dive Eden, Jayde Rankin, Atlas of Life, Raymond Daly, Alan and Lyn Scrymgeour, Cayne Layton, Steve Smith, Nature Coast Marine Group and Will Marshall – Grey.
Jenny Allitt
Here are the sightings they can also be viewed in iNaturalist …
