Cadlina flavomaculata MacFarland, 1905

Description

A small nudibranch about 15 mm long. The ovate mantle is translucent white to very pale cream, and a longitudinal row of lemon-yellow spots runs down each side of the dorsum, from behind the rhinophores to behind the gills (about 6–10 per side); these yellow spots are mantle glands. The rhinophores are strikingly dark, brown to black, standing out against the pale body, and the gills are white to yellow.

Distribution

Northeastern Pacific, recorded from Vancouver Island, Canada, south to southern Baja California, Mexico. It is a rather uncommon species overall but is regularly seen between Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur, California. It lives on rocky bottoms in the intertidal and subtidal zones. The type locality is Monterey Bay, California.

Etymology

The specific epithet flavomaculata combines Latin flavus (“yellow”) and maculatus (“spotted”), after the row of yellow spots along the mantle.

Remarks

A sponge feeder that preys on the sponge Aplysilla glacialis. In English it is known as the yellow-spot cadlina.

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References

• Cadlina flavomaculata n.sp., MacFarland F.M. (1905). A preliminary account of the Dorididae of Monterey Bay, California. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 18: 35-54.
• Cadlina flavomaculata, Helmut Debelius, Rudie H. Kuiter. (2007). Nudibranchs of the World.