Sakuraeolis nungunoides from Sarawak, Malaysia

June 7, 2006
From: Mike Krampf

My girlfriend and I were recently diving some patch reefs near Miri in Sabah, Malaysia and took the picture of the two nudibranches shown. They were on the same part of the reef. My girlfriend thinks there are the same species and do not. Can you please help us identify the species and confirm if they are indeed from the same species or not?

Locality: Anenome Garden, 30 feet, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, South China Sea, 27 May 2006, Patch Reef. Length: 4 cm. Photographer: Mike Krampf.

Mike Krampf

mtkrampf@yahoo.com

Krampf, M., 2006 (Jun 7) Sakuraeolis nungunoides from Sarawak, Malaysia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16782

Dear Mike,
I hope you left yourself some room to retreat with dignity because this time your girlfriend was right. It is Sakuraeolis nungunoides. The difference between the two is mainly that in the lower photo the cerata are being held stiff and upright. Many glaucid aeolids erect their cerata like this when disturbed. Sakuraeolis nungunoides not only straightens its cerata but it also bristles them, quivering and pointing the red colored tips, containing their cnidosacs, at the source of the irritation.  Porcupines bristle their spines in much the same way when attacked. When I first found this species in East Africa I named it 'nungunoides' after the Swahili word for the porcupine -nungunungu.

It has since been found in many parts of the tropical Indo-West Pacific..
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jun 7). Comment on Sakuraeolis nungunoides from Sarawak, Malaysia by Mike Krampf. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16782

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Sakuraeolis nungunoides

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