Thuridilla moebii
(Bergh, 1888)

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Indian Ocean. Mauritius, Reunion Is, Comoro Ids, South Africa, Houtman Abrolhos Ids [Western Australia].

PHOTO

Mayotte Island, Indian Ocean. Site : Passe en S, buoy n° 8. Depth: 12m. Length: 17mm. November 14, 2003. Photo: Marina Poddubetskaia

The body is translucent white, often with a tinge of bluish green. The intensity of the bluish-green may depend on the concentration of algal material in the digestive gland ducts, but too few animals have been reported to be sure. There is a broad dark brown band, scattered with numerous opaque white spots, along the wavy edge of the parapodia. The rhinophores are also brown with white spots and there is a similar coloured patch on each side of the head. Gosliner (1995) describes the colour of the parapodial margin as consisting of an outer orange and an inner black band but from Marina Poddubetskaia's photos in the Forum it appears there is a single dark brown band which looks more orange towards the edge and darker [almost black] on the inside border with the greenish white background colour.

This species is known from only 4 previous records.

Note added 29 April 2010: Photos from the Andaman Sea suggest T. moebii may be a spotted colour form of T. coerulea. See message #23580.

• Gosliner, T.M. (1995) The genus Thuridilla (Opisthobranchia: Elysiidae) from the tropical Indo-Pacific, with a revision of their phylogeny and systematics of the Elysiidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 49(1): 1-54.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2003 (November 23) Thuridilla moebii (Bergh, 1888). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/thurmoeb

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