Noumea flava from the Andaman Sea
July 26, 2006
From: Marcia Fisk Ong
I believe I may have spotted a Noumea flava in an area you haven't had a reported sighting. Oddly, though, this individual seems to have a green spot on its body, whereas the description indicates an all yellow appearance. The animal was very small, and I was without my macro lens, so detail is a bit difficult to pick up.
Locality: Shark Point, 15 m, Phuket, Thailand, Indian Ocean, Andaman Sea, 18 July 2006, reef wall crevice. Length: 20 - 25 mm. Photographer: Marcia Fisk Ong.
Marcia Fisk Ong
dive.with.marcia@gmail.com
Fisk Ong, M., 2006 (Jul 26) Noumea flava from the Andaman Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17205Dear Marcia,
Yes this Noumea flava. Concerning the green spot you mention. Many of these animals, especially when small, have an almost transparent skin and body wall, which means the colours of the internal organs can show through. In dorids, much of the body cavity is filled with a dark coloured digestive gland, often partly covered in a lighter covered gonad [= ovary & testis]. I think that in your animal the greenish spot is part of the digestive gland showing through the skin, the rest of it being obscured by the cream coloured ovotestis.
I certainly don't know of a record of this species from Thailand, but it seems to be widespread through both the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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