Phestilla melanobrachia from Hong Kong

July 17, 2001
From: Leslie Chan

Dear Bill,

Could you identify this nudibranch which I photographed in Hong Kong.
Details: 15m, Ninepin Group, Hong Kong. 15 December 2000.

Thanks
Leslie Chan

leslie@lesmart.com

Chan, L., 2001 (Jul 17) Phestilla melanobrachia from Hong Kong. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4768

Dear Leslie,
This is Phestilla melanobrachia. It feeds exclusively on the corals Dendrophyllia and Tubastrea, usually preferring detached pieces of living coral. It has two colour forms, one bright orange, the other black, matching the two colour forms of the coral on which it feeds. In your photo most of the coral tissue has been removed from the skeleton. At top right, the small white dots are its eggs, which are deposited in dorid-like egg ribbons.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Jul 17). Comment on Phestilla melanobrachia from Hong Kong by Leslie Chan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4768

Factsheet

Phestilla melanobrachia

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