Re: Phyllidia exquisita? from Ningaloo

Dear Kristin,

Have a look at Clay Bryce's message [#838 ] from NW Australia. I think we still have much to learn about the identity of many of the phyllidiid species. Brunckhorst's great revision should be treated as a beginning rather than an end. Certainly there are many photos sent to the Forum which are puzzling. One useful contribution you could make would be to find out what these animals look like from the underside. If they are relatively common, it could be useful to systematically photograph a few from above and below and see if any consistent differences show up. For example some species, like P. elegans, have a black median line on the sole of the foot, and some have the foot bordered in yellow and others don't. I don't know if you will find any differences but it might give us a clue to where we should be paying more attention.

I have included a close-up [middle right] showing the anal papillae. One possibility was that your animal was a form of Fryeria rueppelii, but in that genus the anus opens posteriorly beneath the mantle skirt.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman