Phyllodesmium poindimiei
(Risbec, 1928)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae
DISTRIBUTION
New Caledonia, eastern Australia, Western Australia. Recorded below from Okinawa.
PHOTO
La Perouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, August 1979. PHOTO: John Fields.
This is one of the species of Phyllodesmium that does not harbour zooxanthellae in its tissues. The colour of the digestive glands ducts in the cerata is a deep pink in specimens I have observed. It has been found feeding on the telestacean soft coral Carijoa. Note the branching in the digestive gland ducts, a common feature in species of the genus.
References:
• Rudman, W.B. (1981) The anatomy and biology of alcyonarian feeding aeolid opisthobranch molluscs and their development of symbiosis with zooxanthellae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 72: 219-262.
• Rudman, W.B. (1991) Further studies on the taxonomy and biology of the octocoral-feeding genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 57(2): 167-203.
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (May 8) Phyllodesmium poindimiei (Risbec, 1928). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/phylpoin
Related messages
Phyllodesmium poindimiei from eastern Australia
February 17, 2007
From: Lynda Clarke
Hi Bill,
Could you please help us to identify this nudibranch, which was photgraphed by my buddy.
Locality: Julian Rocks, 10 to 15 metres, New South Wales, Australia, Pacific, 17 November 2006, rocky reef, t= 20 degrees C.Length: less than 3 cm. Photographer: John Natoli.
Thanks
Lynda
polymath@bigpond.com
Clarke, L., 2007 (Feb 17) Phyllodesmium poindimiei from eastern Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19400Dear Lynda,
This is Phyllodesmium poindimiei. Have a look at the species Fact Sheet, and attached messages, for more information about it.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Phyllodesmium poindimiei, from Bare Island, Sydney
September 19, 2005
From: N. Missenden
Hi Bill,
Just thought I would check and see if my id of this nudi is right, Phyllodesmium poindimiei? Are the orange round things inside the nudi body eggs..?
Locality: Bare Island, West Reef, Botany Bay, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Depth: 12 m. Length: 4 cm. 10 September, 2005. Broken reef, sandy bottom. Photographer: Nicholas Missenden
Regards
Nick
njmpm@iinet.net.au
Dear Nick,
Yes this is Phyllodesmium poindimiei, and the orange round things are the eggs, or more correctly the little small lobules in the ovary where the eggs are produced. Your two lower photos seem to show the animal on a 'stalk' od the soft-coral on which they have been feeding,. The polyps have either retracted or been eaten.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Another Phyllodesmium poindimiei
September 11, 2002
From: Sabine Noack
Hi,
This one also looks like Phyllodesmium poindimiei. The picture was taken in Horseshoe Bay (between the islands of Rinca and Nusa Kode), Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The name of the divesite is Torpedo.
Depth: ~ 8 m
Size: ~ 4 cm
It was moving across a patch of black sand
Regards,
Sabine
dive@snoack.de
Noack, S., 2002 (Sep 11) Another Phyllodesmium poindimiei. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7840Thanks Sabine,
Your animal certainly looks like P. poindimiei. My only doubt is that I can't see any branching on the pink digestive gland ducts which run up each of the cerata. I this genus there is quite a range of structure in the digestive gland duct, ranging from species with a smooth unbranched tube to others with major branches and tertiary ramifications throughout the cerata. If you look at other photos of P. poindimiei on this page you will see that there are quite noticeable secondary branches. I am not sure in your animal whetjher it lacks these or whether they are obscured by the pigment on the ceratal wall.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Phyllodesmium from the Philippines
May 22, 2002
From: Erwin Köhler
Dear Bill,
here is the next one from the Philippines,
Lipayo, "El Dorado housereef".
Size 11mm, depth 16m, date 04 March 2002
Erwin
Erwin@medslugs.de
Köhler, E., 2002 (May 22) Phyllodesmium from the Philippines. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6764Dear Erwin,
I can't be sure but it certainly has the look of Phyllodesmium poindimiei.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
Phyllodesmium poindimiei from Sulawesi
September 3, 2001
From: Mary Jane Adams
Hi Bill,
This look to me like the Forum images of Phyllodesmium poindimiei. If so, it is apparently a range extension. Length: 20 mm, Depth: about 15 meters.
Divesite: Nudi Falls, Lembeh Staits, Sulawesi, Indonesia, August 11, 2001.
Best regards,
Mary Jane
divepng@yahoo.com
Adams, M.J., 2001 (Sep 3) Phyllodesmium poindimiei from Sulawesi. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5188Dear Mary Jane,
With your find and Bob Bolland's photo from Okinawa, this species is now getting a much more sensible distribution.
Thanks,
Bill Rudman
Phyllodesmium poindimiei from Okinawa
April 27, 2001
From: Bob Bolland
Hi Bill,
I thought I'd submit a recent scan of an Okinawan Phyllodesmium. It would appear to be P. poindimiei.
Collection data:
RFB # 3861-A
9m / TL: 33mm
From beneath Tengan Pier, Tengan, Okinawa
20 April 2001
Cheers,
Bob
bollandr@rapid-link.ne.jp
Bolland, R.F., 2001 (Apr 27) Phyllodesmium poindimiei from Okinawa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4224Thanks Bob,
I think you're right. It's good to get a better idea of its distribution as it helps to make the records from Western Australia seem more sensible.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Phyllodesmium poindimiei? from Sydney
June 18, 2000
From: P.Zylstra & H.Rothenfluh
Hi,
We were wondering if this is a Phyllodesmium poindimiei? We didn't know whether it was a sea slug or not when we took the photo. We found it in about 13 m at Sutherland Point, Kurnell in Sydney on 16/6/00. It was about 2 cm long -- there were two more nearby.
Paula Zylstra
Harry Rothenfluh
hsrpz@netspeed.com.au
Zylstra, P. & Rothenfluh, H., 2000 (Jun 18) Phyllodesmium poindimiei? from Sydney. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2584Dear Paula & Harry,
Yes this is Phyllodesmium poindimiei. The orange telestacean soft-coral (Carijoa sp.) it is on in your photo seems to be its preferred food, at least in New South Wales.
There is some more information on P. poindimiei at the top of this page. The genus Phyllodesmium includes some spectacularly shaped aeolids which 'farm' single-celled plants in their bodies and use the sugars they produce for their own nutrition. P. poindimiei is not one of these but if you are interested, have a look at the page on solar powered nudibranchs for more information.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
Phyllodesmium poindimiei from New South Wales
July 3, 1999
From: Grey McNeil
Dear Bill,
Could you identify this photo please. The details are:
FLY PT., NELSON BAY, Port Stephens, NSW, eastern Australia, 4m, March 1998, 2cm long.
Thanks,
Grey McNeil.
GREYMACIND@bigpond.com.au
McNeil, G., 1999 (Jul 3) Phyllodesmium poindimiei from New South Wales. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1001Dear Grey,
This is Phyllodesmium poindimiei. It is one of a genus of soft-coral feeding aeolids. If you look at the Species List you will find a number of other species of Phyllodesmium which illustrate the diversity in the genus. Some species feed on soft-corals which have microscopic algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues. These slugs have evolved the ability to keep the zooxanthellae alive in their bodies and to take the sugars and other nutrients they produce for their own use. Have a look at the page on Solar Powered Sea Slugs for more information.
Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jul 3). Comment on Phyllodesmium poindimiei from New South Wales by Grey McNeil. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1001Phyllodesmium poindimiei from NW Australia
May 8, 1999
From: Clay Bryce
Dear Bill,
Here is another species, perhaps a new record?, from the Dampier Archipelago in the Kimberley region, Northwestern Australia.
WAM1466: Not sure about this. Flabellina poindimiei?
Clay Bryce,
W.A. Museum
Perth.
brycec@museum.wa.gov.au
Bryce, C., 1999 (May 8) Phyllodesmium poindimiei from NW Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/839Dear Clay,
It looks like Phyllodesmium poindimiei and I have identified specimens from Busselton Jetty, collected by you some years ago, as this species in my 1991 paper. at least this record from NW Australia gets it closer to the tropics than I have seen it previously. Although originally described from New Caledonia, subsequent records have been either from temperate eastern or western Australia.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
