Spurilla australis from Western

January 19, 2007
From: Bruce Potter

Dear Bill,
I recently dived under the Busselton Jetty in Western Australia, and on a night dive I found this very pretty nudibranch which I have not been able to identify in any of my books.

Locality: Busselton, 6 metres, Western Australia, Indian Ocean, 7 January 2007, under a jetty. Length: 25mm. Photographer: Bruce Potter.

It was about 25mm long.
Regards
Bruce Potter

bandppotter@bigpond.com

Potter, B., 2007 (Jan 19) Spurilla australis from Western . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19242

Dear Bruce,

This is Spurilla australis. It appears to be solar powered with a pale form when it lacks zooxanthellae and a dark form like this when it has a population growing inside. It is often found on brown algae where it hunts down and eats small brown sea anemones.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jan 19). Comment on Spurilla australis from Western by Bruce Potter. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19242

Factsheet

Spurilla australis

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