Ceratosoma brevicaudatum
Abraham, 1876
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Australia from about Perth in the west to northern New South Wales in the east.
PHOTO
UPPER: Adult showing bright red patterned dorsal 'tail' which contains most of the defensive glands. A few small mantle glands (white arrow) remain at the mantle edge on the side of the head. Solitary Islands, Coffs Harbour, northern New South Wales, Australia, May 1982.
LOWER: Juveniles on sponge showing the prominent red colour drawing attention to the most distasteful part of the animal's body. Tumby Bay, Eyre Peninsula, Sout Australia, February 1985.
PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.
RELATED TOPIC
Defensive colouration in sea slugs
Most species of Ceratosoma have a long recurved dorsal 'horn' which acts as a defensive lure attracting potential predators to the part of the animal which contains most of the distasteful chemicals stored from their food. Although this species, as its name suggests, has a very short 'tail' it is conspicuously marked, especially in juveniles. This colour 'target' probably also attracts potential predators to the most distasteful part of the animal.
Reference:
• Abraham, P.S. (1876). Notes on some genera of nudibranchiate mollusca, with notices of a new genus and some hitherto undescribed species in the collection of the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 18(4): 132-146
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (October 14) Ceratosoma brevicaudatum Abraham, 1876. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/cerabrev
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