Eubranchus inabai Baba, 1964
Description
A small aeolid, 6 mm long in life. The body is rather stoutish; the tail is long and tapered but ends bluntly. Rhinophores are simple. Branchial papillae are arranged in 5 oblique rows on each side along the back margins (about 3, 4, 2-3, 2 and 2 in successive rows from front to back); the papillae themselves are short and fusiform, swollen in the mid-length. Foot corners rounded. The back and sides are deep reddish-brown, with a series of opaque white markings on the midline (the marking over the pericardium being the largest). The mid-length of the cephalic tentacles is reddish-brown; the head above is opaque white; the head sides are reddish-brown and this colour extends up to the bases of the rhinophores. The upper half of each ceras is covered with opaque white dots, with the inner liver diverticulum dark brown above and reddish below.Distribution
Type locality: Mukaishima (Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan), in the Inland Sea of Seto, off the Mukaishima Marine Biological Station of Hiroshima University.Etymology
The specific epithet inabai is a patronym honouring Dr Akihiko Inaba, then director of the Mukaishima Marine Biological Station, who supplied the type material. The Japanese vernacular name "Inaba-minoumiushi" reflects the same dedication.Remarks
Resembles Eubranchus agrius most closely in the arrangement of the branchial papillae, but is separable on external and internal characters.References
- Eubranchus inabai (genus context), Forbes E. (1838). Malacologia Monensis. A catalogue of the Mollusca inhabiting the Isle of Man and the neighbouring sea. Edinburgh: J. Carfrae and Son. xii + 63 pp.
- Inaba-minoumiushi (n. n.), Baba, K. 1964. Description of Eubranchus inabai n.sp., from Mukaishima, Japan (Nudibranchia - Eolidoidea). Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory 12(4):285-287.
- 高岡生物研究会. (2002). 日本海のウミウシ. 第2版.
A Kindle field guide by the site author
Kimoto N. (2026). Sea Slugs of Japan & the Indo-Pacific, 2nd Edition.
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Photos of Eubranchus inabai
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.