Facelina rubrovittata
(A. Costa, 1866)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae

DISTRIBUTION

Western Mediterranean & Atlantic coast of Spain.

PHOTO

UPPER: Cala Llevadó (Costa Brava, Spain) on a rocky bottom at 10 meters, June 1998. PHOTO: Miquel Pontes.
LOWER: Bay of Algeciras (Strait of Gibraltar, Southern Spain), Size: 20 mm, Depth: 18 m., April 2000. PHOTO: Alma Sánchez

Maximum length 14mm. Rhinophores smooth in smaller animals but lamellated in larger ones. In contrast to the similarly coloured Facelina fusca, in F. rubrovittata the tips of the rhinophores, oral tentacles and sometimes the cerata are covered with opaque white. Basal region of the rhinophores is brown. There are usually 5 broken orange lines down the body. There is a median line from the front of the head running down the back between the rhinophores and another line on each side below the rhinophores and the cerata. The other two lines often consist of orange dots on each side between the ceratal clusters. This species feeds on the hydroid Eudendrium.

Reference:
• Schmekel, L. & Portmann, A. (1982) Opisthobranchia des Mittelmeeres. Springer-Verlag: Berlin. 410pp.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (January 23) Facelina rubrovittata (A. Costa, 1866). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/facerubr

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