Phyllodesmium jakobsenae - a new species from Indonesia
September 1, 2005
From: Ingo Burghardt
Dear Bill,
I would like to provide the Forum some pictures and info about the new Phyllodesmium species that Heike Wägele and I described last year.
Phyllodesmium jakobsenae is a "solar-powered " species and is very cryptic. It lives in Xenia soft corals and its cerata mimic the polyps of Xenia. P. jakobsenae feeds on the soft coral and retains some of the corals' zooxanthellae photosynthetic active inside their digestive glandular cells (for further details see our publication). We only found them close to Bunaken Island/ Sulawesi, but I've heard that some people also found them in the Philippines, so it might have a wider distribution.
Locality: Bunaken Island, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. intertidal. Length: up to 30 mm. 12 July 2003. intertifdal coral reef with patches of sea grass. Photographer: Michael Schrödl
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Burghardt, I. and Wägele, H. (2004) A new solar powered species of the genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea) from Indonesia with analysis of its photosynthetic activity and notes on biology. Zootaxa, 596: 1-18.
Cheers,
Ingo
ingo.burghardt@rub.de
Burghardt, I., 2005 (Sep 1) Phyllodesmium jakobsenae - a new species from Indonesia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13424
Dear Ingo,
Sorry it has taken me a while to post this message. It is indeed a spectacular Xenia mimic, perhaps not quite as good as Phyllodesmium sp. 11, but almost.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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