Phyllodesmium sp. 8
- Location
- Hon Drop, Miyakojima, Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2024/02/23
- Length
- 8mm
- Depth
- 14.0m
- Water temperature
- 21.0℃
Description
Body extremely slender and translucent. Rhinophores smooth and simple. Cerata very long with prominent white spots and white tips; the tips coil into a corkscrew when contracted in response to disturbance. Branches of the digestive gland with short dark brown side pockets, giving a speckled appearance. Subapical blue iridescence sometimes visible on the cerata. Reaches 25 mm.Distribution
Hawaiian Islands, Enewetak Atoll, Heron Island; possibly widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific.Ecology
Nocturnal in sheltered habitats from the low intertidal to the very shallow subtidal. Feeds on the stolons and retracted polyps of a small unidentified octocoral. May retain functional zooxanthellae in its digestive gland for supplementary nutrition. Egg mass a kinked white spiral 5-6 mm in diameter.Differs from Phyllodesmium poindimiei
Resembles Phyllodesmium poindimiei but distinguished by approximately half the body length (25 mm vs 50 mm), corkscrew cerata tips when disturbed (versus simply curved in P. poindimiei), and dark brown speckled side pockets in the digestive gland (versus orange-to-yellow continuous colour in P. poindimiei). Habitat also differs, with the present species occurring on intertidal cobble beaches and P. poindimiei in shaded habitats at 6-20 m depth. Mitochondrial COI sequences diverge by approximately 10 %, indicating a separate lineage.References
- ハナビラミノウミウシ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- ハナビラミノウミウシ（新称）, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- Phyllodesmium sp. 14, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
- ハナビラミノウミウシ, ハナビラミノモドキ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2019). 日本のウミウシ. 第二版. 文一総合出版.
- ハナビラミノウミウシ, 小野篤司 & 加藤昌一. (2020). 新版 ウミウシ. 誠文堂新光社.
Featured in this book
Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
New World Publications
This species, Phyllodesmium sp. 8, is included in the book.
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Photos of Phyllodesmium sp. 8
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.