Thuridilla neona
Gosliner, 1995

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Hawaiian Islands and south western Pacific

PHOTO

Hekili Point, Maui, Hawaiian Ids. Depth: 1-2 meters. 1 December 2002. Lengths: 10, 12 mm. Photos: Cory Pittman.

The body was described by Gosliner as 'green with a slight bluish tinge' but in Cory Pittman's photo the parapodia are a orange brown colour lightening to a greenish blue colour towards the parapodial edge, which is lined with three thin wavy submarginal bands - the innermost is bright blue, then black, and nearest the edge a bright yellow orange line. Outside these three lines is a broad dark orange band, as in T. undula, which varies in width along the mantle edge. On the inside of the parapodia the edge is orange, then there is a broad black band and then a region of reflective bright blue. The head and rhinophores are creamy white with a triple border of blue, black and orange, as on the parapodia. The foot is similarly coloured. It is a common, diurnal species in shallow Maui, according to Cory Pittman. See description of egg ribbon below.

Similarly coloured specimens are reported here from the Great Barrier Reef. There is also an apparent variant [see Thuridilla sp. 4] which most probably represents a green colour form [message #15079 ].

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

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (October 31) Thuridilla neona Gosliner, 1995. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/thurneon

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