Cuthona ornata
Baba, 1937

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Tergipedidae

DISTRIBUTION

Known from Japan & Hong Kong

PHOTO

Tiu Chung Chau, Hong Kong, 30 March 1985, 5m, AM C146966. Photo: Pres B.W.Darvell.

Background colour of the body translucent orange. The oral tentacles and smooth tapering rhinophores are translucent watery orange at the base, changing to a translucent yellow about halfway up. There can sometimes be a pair of bluish white lines of the head running from in front of the rhinophores to along the basal half of the oral tentacles. The most distinctive colour feature of this species is the bright blue digestive gland which colours the cerata except for an apical bright yellow cap. In some cases the upper part of the digestive gland can be a blackish colour so that cerata looks as though it is bright blue with a black band then a yellow cap. It can grow to 15mm long.

Reference:
• Baba, K. (1937) Opisthobranchia of Japan (II). J. Dept. Agric. Kyusyu Imp. Univ. 5(7): 289-344. (Pls.1-2)
• Baba, K. (1955) Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay, Supplement. Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo. 59pp., 20 Plates

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (August 9) Cuthona ornata Baba, 1937. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/cuthorna

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