Limenandra nodosa
Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Aeolidiidae

PHOTO

Solitary Islands, Coffs Harbour Region, New South Wales, Australia. April 1987, 15mm long. Photos below showing details of colour pattern and ceratal & rhinophore morphology in two different animals. The one in the right photo having much less distinct concentric rings. PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.

This easily recognised aeolid has a circumtropical distribution. It was initially from the Mediterranean, and subsequently from the Caribbean, Gulf of California, and Hawaii. I have also found it in Tanzania, eastern Australia and New Caledonia. There is usually a pattern of concentric rings down the dorsal midline. In its most pronounced form they form a target-like patch of rings: yellow (outer), then red, then white (inner). The colours can be very faint or one or more can be absent. In some specimens only a whitish patch is present. The rings are found on the head, above the heart, and between each cluster of cerata. The cerata are arrange in double rows. Both the cerata and the rhinophores have white papillae. In specimens I have looked at in the Indo-West Pacific, there is a rhythmic simultaneous raising of the large inner cerata as the animal crawls along, making it appear to move in as series of jerks. This unique behaviour does not seem to have been noted from other parts of the world. It has been transferred to the genus Baeolidia by some authors, but Miller's recent review of the family (2001) considers the genus Limenandra should be retained.

Reference:
• Haefelfinger, H.R. & Stamm, R.A. (1958). Limenandra nodosa gen. et spec. nov. (Nudibranch, Aeolidiidae propr.) un opisthobranche nouveau de la Méditerranée. Vie et Milieu, 9(4): 418-423, text figs 1a-d.
• Miller, M.C. (2001) Aeolid nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) of the family Aeolidiidae from New Zealand waters. Journal of Natural History, 35: 629-662

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (April 4) Limenandra nodosa Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958 . [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/limenodo

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