Phyllodesmium? from the Philippines
October 30, 2002
From: Erwin Koehler
Dear Bill,
Here is one more from the Philippines, Malapascua Island, divesite "Gato Cave". Comparing it with the photos at the sea slug forum I guess this is Phyllodesmium poindimiei, but this is only a guess!
Size: 1cm
Depth: 18m
Date: April 2002
Photos: Georg Heinze [Georg.Heinze@t-online.de]
Cheers,
Erwin
Erwin@medslugs.de
Koehler, E., 2002 (Oct 30) Phyllodesmium? from the Philippines. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8230
Thanks Erwin,
I agree that this is most probably a species of Phyllodesmium. If you look carefully in the close-up alongside, you can see that the digestive gland in the cerata has regular groups of branches. P. poindimiei has a similar branching arrangement but I think the colour pattern of your animal, with opaque white patching scattered over a transparent body is probably an indication that this is another species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
