Phidiana militaris
(Alder & Hancock, 1864)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae

DISTRIBUTION

Indo-West Pacific?

PHOTO

Khorfakkan, Gulf of Oman, east coast of United Arab Emirates. 15-22m. Approx 2cm long. Photo: Gordon T. Smith.

Characterised by the bright orange median line on the head which forks anteriorly, with a branch running up the anterior edge of each oral tentacle. Another orange line runs along the posterior edge of each oral tentacle and then runs along each side of the body below the cerata. The oral tentacles, rhinophores, tentacular foot corners and cerata are all tipped with yellow and there is a broad orange band on the rhinophores.

Originally described from India, it has been reported two or three times from India. The only other record I know of is from a photo, which seems to be of this species from Hong Kong.

References:
• Alder, J. & Hancock, A. (1864) Notice of a collection of Nudibranchiate Mollusca made in India by Walter Elliot, Esq., with descriptions of several new genera and species. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 5: 113-147.
• Rudman, W.B. (1980) Aeolid opisthobranch molluscs (Glaucidae) from the Indian Ocean and the south-west Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 68: 139-172.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (January 7) Phidiana militaris (Alder & Hancock, 1864). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/phidmili

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