Elysia chilkensis
Eliot, 1916

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae

Jensen (1985), reported this species from Hong Kong. However, Eliot's description, based on a single animal, lacks all the information required for a reliable identification. Until the elysiid fauna of the type locality - Chilka Lake, north-eastern India, is examined, I suspect Eliot's Elysia chilkensis is unidentifiable.

Here are the main points of the original description, which was based on a single specimen, and there were no accompanying images:
"A single specimen taken among weeds in a few inches of water close to the shore .... Chilka Lake, 20 March 1914.
Form of body elongate and narrow, pointed behind but not produced. Tentacles very slender, tapering, pointed.
Colouration:- Dorsal surface dull moss-green marbled with a darker shade and dotted with white. Front of head between tentacles brownish, the brownish shade gradually disappearing behind head on sides of body. A colourless streak along the mid-dorsal line behind the head; a broad dark brown bar along each side of the head interrupted by a whitish streak containing the orifice of the tentacle. Ventral surface greenish.

The preserved specimen is 17mm long ... The animal is in most respects a typical Elysia but it has long, tapering tentacles which appear to be only slightly grooved, whereas in most species the tentacles are rather short and distinctly folded or auriculate." Eliot, 1916.

Reference:
• Eliot, C.N.E. (1916). Mollusca Nudibranchiata, Fauna of the Chilka Lake. Memoirs of the Indian Museum, 5: 375-380
• Jensen, K.R. (1985) Annotated checklist of Hong Kong Ascoglossa (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia), with descriptions of four new species. [In:] Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Malacofauna of Hong Kong and Southern China, Hong Kong, 1983. (Eds: Morton, B.; Dudgeon, D.) Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 77-107.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2003 (June 10) Elysia chilkensis Eliot, 1916. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/elyschil

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