Atagema intecta (Kelaart, 1858)
- Location
- Shiratori Kindergarten, Miyakojima, Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2026/05/02
- Length
- 18mm
- Depth
- 18.0m
- Water temperature
- 25.0℃
Description
A mid-sized warty dorid reaching up to 80 mm in length. Body colour highly variable, ranging from yellowish brown through dark brown. The dorsum is densely covered with granular tubercles which aggregate into a large pasty mass on the dorsal midline. A pale yellowish-white to greyish-white longitudinal stripe runs along the dorsal midline, extending from just behind the rhinophores to the base of the gill ring. Rhinophores and gills are dark brown with greyish-white markings. Kelaart's original 1858 description noted "a thick white pasty line" along the dorsal midline as the species' chief diagnostic character.Distribution
Indian Ocean, western and central Pacific. Records include Tanzania, Madagascar, Aldabra Atoll, Australia, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Midway Atoll and Hawaii. The type locality is Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).Etymology
The specific epithet intecta is the Latin feminine of intectus, "uncovered" or "unconcealed", possibly in reference to the conspicuously exposed mantle warts.Remarks
Originally described as Doris intecta Kelaart (Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 3(9): 97, 1858), as a 1.5-inch animal commonly found in low water during September and October. Subsequently transferred to Atagema Gray, 1850.References
- Doris intecta, Kelaart E.F. (1858). Description of new and little-known species of Ceylon nudibranchiate molluscs and zoophytes. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 3(9): 84-139.
- カイメンウミウシ（新稱）, Baba K. (1949). Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan (相模湾産後鰓類図譜). Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo. 4+2+194+7 pp., pls. 1-50.
- 高岡生物研究会. (2002). 日本海のウミウシ. 第2版.
- アタゲマ・インテクタ, 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
A Kindle field guide by the site author
Kimoto N. (2026). Sea Slugs of Japan & the Indo-Pacific, 2nd Edition.
Kindle Edition
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Photos of Atagema intecta
Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.