Spurilla macleayi from northeastern New Zealand

January 12, 2007
From: Ian Skipworth


Hi Bill

This slug is not one I've come across before and I hope you can help with its identification. It would seem to be similar to some Janolus species but is certainly quite different from J. mokohinau, J. ignis and J. eximius with which I am familiar.

Locality: Poor Knights Islands, 12 m, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean, 07 January 2007, Rocky reef. Length: 9 mm. Photographer: Ian Skipworth

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers
Ian

ianskip@xtra.co.nz

Skipworth, I.R., 2007 (Jan 12) Spurilla macleayi from northeastern New Zealand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19188

Dear Ian,
This animal does look quite like a zephyrinid, but I would have said Caldukia rather than Janolus. However it is an aeolid, Spurilla macleayi. Some species of aeolid retract their cerata like this when they are 'resting'. You'll see in your upper photo, in which the animal is starting to crawl, that the cerata area beginning to elongate.

This species is common in southeastern Australia and also recorded from throughout New Zealand. This record is very welcome because it shows a specimen with yellow rings on the cerata and the orange-red patch over the heart - a colour form not recorded from New Zealand before, but common in Australia.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jan 12). Comment on Spurilla macleayi from northeastern New Zealand by Ian Skipworth. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19188

Factsheet

Spurilla macleayi

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