Asteronotus mimeticus
Gosliner & Valdes, 2002

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Known from several localities in the western Pacific Ocean from the Philippine Islands, Palau, Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

PHOTO

Lizard Is, North Queensland, Australia, 100m off Research Lab on patch reef, 3m, on Carteriospongia, 1 June 1979, AM C115955, 21 mm long alive. In lower photo animal is on right side of the photo on its food sponge, Carteriospongia. PHOTO: W.B.Rudman.

Animals are oval in shape with a gray, brown or yellow body. Notum has scattered opaque white spots and may be entirely smooth or possess tubercles and a few elongate papillae. Rhinophores are perfoliate wth 6-10 lamellae, some specimens with a brownish pigment on the base and middle region. The apex being an opaque white.Seven to eight lobes are evident along the margin of the rhinophoral sheaths. The gill consists of 5-6 tripinnate branchial leaves possibly with scattered opaque white spots and are coloured similarly to the body.Six distinct lobes are contained within the gill pocket. The broad foot is the same colour as the rest of the body and is bilabiate and notched anteriorly. An elongate, digitiform oral tentacle is present on either side of the labial region and mouth.

Found abundantly on the underside of sponges such as Phyllospongia lamellosa and Carteriospongia. Egg mass is a flat tightly coiled spiral of 2-3 whorls with relatively large eggs suggesting direct or lecithotrophic development.

See also Asteronotus spongicolus.

Reference:
• Gosliner, T.M. & Valdes, A. (2002) Sponging off of Porifera: New species of cryptic dorid nudibranchs (Mollusca: Nudibranchia)from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 53(5): 51-61.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2003 (January 15) Asteronotus mimeticus Gosliner & Valdes, 2002. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/astemime

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