Crosslandia viridis
Eliot, 1903

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Scyllaeidae

DISTRIBUTION

Tropical Indo-West Pacific.

PHOTO

South of Kunduchi Beach, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, October 1976, 26mm long, amongst hydroids on the seagrass Thalassodendron. PHOTO: Bill Rudman.

This strangely shaped dendronotoidean nudibranch looks very like a species of the sacoglossan genus Elysia. The rhinophores are hidden in small pockets at the tip of the tenatcle-like extensions to the front edge of the mantle. Crosslandia is closely related to Notobryon and Scyllaea, the latter adapted for life on floating pieces of brown algae. All members of the family feed on hydroids living on algae. Only one species is recognised from the Indo-West Pacific and it ranges from bright green to dull brown, apparently matching the algae or seagrass it is living on.

Reference:
• Thompson, T.E. & Brown, G.H. (1981) Biology and relationships of the nudibranch mollusc Notobryon wardi in South Africa, with a review of the Scyllaeidae. Journal of Zoology, 194: 437-444.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (April 16) Crosslandia viridis Eliot, 1903. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/crosviri

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