Cratena lineata
(Eliot, 1905)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae

DISTRIBUTION

Tropical Indo-West Pacific.

PHOTO

UPPER: Woolgoolga, nthn New South Wales, August 1991, 12mm long. LOWER LEFT: Eden, southern New South Wales, February 1983, 10mm long. LOWER RIGHT: Southern Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, February 1985, 18mm long. PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.

This species usually has white longitudinal lines on the body and cerata. Sometimes the lines on the cerata are restricted to the tip and sometimes the body can lack any pigmentation. The digestive gland duct in each ceras ranges in colour from bright red, green or dull brown to black. Often the basal section of the ceratal digestive gland duct is red, and the rest a brownish colour, perhaps reflecting a change in diet. Normally there is one large orange patch on each side of the head but in some specimens this can be replaced by a bent line or divided into two spots on each side.

This is one of two similarly coloured species described by Eliot (1905). The lower right photo from sthn Yorke Peninsula is identical in colour to Hervia lineata [Pl. XVI fig. 2.], The second species, Facelina lineata is also illustrated on Plate XVI, in fig 4.

• Edmunds, M. (1970). Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Tanzania. II. Eolidacea (Cuthonidae, Piseinotecidae and Facelinidae). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 39: 15-57.
• Eliot, C.N.E. (1905). On some nudibranchs from east Africa and Zanzibar. Part VI. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1904(2): 268-298, Pls. 16-17.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (March 13) Cratena lineata (Eliot, 1905). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/cratline

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