Flabellina telja
Marcus & Marcus, 1967
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Superfamily: AEOLIDINA
Family: Flabellinidae
DISTRIBUTION
Pacific coast of central America.
PHOTO
Los Arcos Islets, Puerto Vallata, Bahia de Banderas, Mexico. Eastern Pacific. Depth: 35 feet. Length: 5 to 12 mm. 5,8 and 29 January 2004. On rocks and walls. Photographer: Alicia Hermosillo
The body is a translucent pinkish colour covered with opaque white spots of irregular size and shape. The cerata are similarly white-spotted. The body is also coloured by the underlying viscera, often becoming a dark reddish pink, apparently after feeding. The ceratal digestive gland duct is large, filling the cerata, and also can become a dark reddish pink. The rhinophore has a large rounded lamellate (perfoliate) club which is essentially translucent white but can be coloured with light brown or deep pink.
See also Bajaeolis bertschi, F. cynara, F. marcusorum and F. vansyoci, which are all east Pacific aeolids with white spots.
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Ferreira, A. J. and Bertsch, H. (1972) Additional data on Flabellina telja (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia). The Veliger, 14: 414 - 415.
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Marcus, E. and Marcus, E. (1967) American opisthobranch mollusks. Part 2, Opisthobranchs from the Gulf of California. Studies in Tropical Oceanography, Miami, 6: 141 - 256.
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (November 17) Flabellina telja Marcus & Marcus, 1967 . [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/flabtelj
