Cuthona yamasui from Sumbawa Is, Indonesia

August 9, 2002
From: Walabha Sinbul

Dear Bill,
Please help with the ID. I just think my find is Spurilla australis.

Dive site: Tunjung Brenti, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
Depth: 45ft.
Size: 3cm.
Activity: found clinging on Hydroids

Thanks so much.
Walabha

walabha@clickta.com

Sinbul, W., 2002 (Aug 9) Cuthona yamasui from Sumbawa Is, Indonesia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7713

Dear Walabha,
Although this does look a bit like Spurilla australis and has been mistaken for a member of the family Aeolidiidae, it is in fact Cuthona yamasui, a member of the Tergipediidae. Your mention of it 'clinging on hydroids' is a useful clue to identification as species of the Aeolidiidae usually feed on sea anemones and their close relatives, rather than on hydroids.

I have included a closeup of some of the cerata, as they show that the digestive gland duct in each ceras branches. This is a rather interesting feature of this species because such branching is not usual for the Tergipedidae, and in fact I can't think of another species that does so.
best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Aug 9). Comment on Cuthona yamasui from Sumbawa Is, Indonesia by Walabha Sinbul. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7713

Factsheet

Cuthona yamasui

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