Phyllodesmium kabiranum from Derawan, Borneo, Indonesia

June 6, 2007
From: Carrie Lo


Concerning message #8614:

Dear Bill,

I think the colour of these Phyllodesmium kabiranum I found in Derawan resemble closely to those found by Mary in Lembeh Island and Mike's in Sabah. Derawan is in East-Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, somewhere between Sabah and Lembeh Island.

Locality: Derawan Lighthouse, 10m, East-Kalimantan, Indonesia, 26 April 2007. Length: 2-3 inches. Photographer: Carrie Lo.

Something interesting is that I saw ten of them in 15 mins, and it seems that they all appeared in couples. I saw 2 pairs at first, and then another 6 in an area of ~2 sq.ft.

I have chosen 3 photos to show them to you. The 1st photo showed a pair, the one on the left hand side was feeding on xeniid soft coral (as I read from your other related messages) and its cerata are comparatively inflated than the one on the right. The one showed in the 2nd photo was actually 6 inches away from another Phyllidia varicosa nearby (I didn't show it here). And the last photo is one feeding on xeniid soft coral.

At the front of these creatures, there are 4 brown colour tentacles, are these rhinophores?

Cheers,
Carrie

carrielohc@yahoo.com.hk

Lo, C., 2007 (Jun 6) Phyllodesmium kabiranum from Derawan, Borneo, Indonesia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19947

Dear Carrie,
Thanks for this nice set of photos. Concerning the head tentacles. I have a page on the head of some dorids but need to prepare a few more on other nudibranchs. Aeolids have two pairs of head tentacles, which you can see nicely in your second photo. The upper pair are the rhinophores which are the main chemosensory organs - sensing chemicals [=smells] in the water. The other pair of tentacles, on either side of the mouth, are the oral tentacles and have both chemosensory and tactile [- touch, feel] functions.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jun 6). Comment on Phyllodesmium kabiranum from Derawan, Borneo, Indonesia by Carrie Lo. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19947

Factsheet

Phyllodesmium kabiranum

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