Corambe sp. 1
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Corambidae
DISTRIBUTION
Found in New South Wales, eastern Australia, but may be much more widely spread.
PHOTO
On bryozoan colony Membranipora sp. growing on laminarian brown algae. Green Point, Woolgoolga, northern New South Wales, November 1982.
RELATED TOPIC
Defensive colouration in sea slugs
There are a number of species of corambid which occur around the world and in all cases they live on colonies of the lace coral Membranipora sp which is usually found growing on the stalks and leaves of large brown algae. In all cases the slugs have a white network pattern covering their mantle which matches the outline of the lace corals skeleton. In this remarkable example of colour camouflage, the animals line up on the colony so the orientation of the white pattern matches that of the skeleton. In the above photo I have moved one of the animals so that it can be more clearly seen.
Note added 11 Feb 2003: Previously known on Forum as Doridella sp. See message.
Authorship detailsRudman, W.B., 1998 (October 14) Corambe sp. 1 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/corasp1
