Siphopteron makisig
A rare macro find logged in Mindanao, Philippines, on warm reefs between 25 and 31C, ideal for slow, sharp-eyed dives.
A tiny gastropterid (winged sea slug) with a soft, rounded body and a pair of fleshy side flaps (parapodia) used for slow swimming and crawling. Expect a body only millimetres long, so it takes a close, patient look at the substrate to pick one out. As with related headshield slugs, exact colour patterning is best confirmed against a clear photo, since this species is easy to overlook against reef rubble.
Like other gastropterids, it's a slow mover, typically found grazing or resting on the reef substrate rather than out in the open water column. Divers who've logged it describe it as a rare find, meaning it takes a deliberate macro-hunting mindset and a slow pace over the reef floor rather than a casual swim-by. It shows no particular reaction to divers beyond simply being hard to spot.
Gastropterids like this one use their wing-like parapodia to swim in short bursts when disturbed, a trait that sets them apart from most other sea slugs that only crawl.
Sightings don't show a clear season, and water temperatures at the known site sit in a comfortable 25.4 to 31.4C range typical of tropical reefs year-round, so there's no strong reason to target a particular month over another.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
The only confirmed sightings logged so far come from Mindanao in the Philippines, making it the current go-to region for anyone hoping to find this species. It has not yet turned up in diver logs elsewhere, so treat Mindanao as the known starting point rather than one of several options.
Mapping where Siphopteron Makisig is logged…
The only logged sightings so far are from Mindanao in the Philippines. It hasn't yet been recorded at other dive destinations, so Mindanao is currently the place to look.
There's no detected season in the sighting data, and the water stays warm year-round at the known site, so any time of year is worth a look.
Look for a tiny, soft-bodied sea slug with fleshy side flaps (parapodia), found low on the reef substrate. Its small size makes it a macro-only find, best spotted by scanning slowly rather than swimming past.
Exact size data isn't confirmed, but like other gastropterids it's a small, millimetre-scale slug that requires close-up macro photography to appreciate.
It belongs to a slug family that can swim in short bursts using wing-like body flaps, rather than only crawling like most sea slugs.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
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