Phyllidiella nigra
(van Hasselt, 1824).

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Phyllidiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Known from throughout the Indo-west Pacific region. It appears to be less common in the eastern Indian Ocean

PHOTO

Specimens examined by Bergh (1869) which he misidentified (as P. pustulosa), conserved in ZMUC (Brunckhorst, 1993; Plate 6A); Intertidal reef flat, Phi Phi Island, southern Thailand, 29 Nov. 1989, dorsal view of 40 mm specimen (Brunckhorst, 1993; Plate 6B).

Notes compiled from Brunckhorst, 1993:
Phyllidiella nigra is easily distinguished from conspecifics by its tall, rounded, dark pink to red tubercles which are evenly distributed (not clustered) over the dorsum. The bases of these tubercles are black.

Phyllidiella pustulosa and Phyllidiella annulata differ from P. nigra in the arrangement of the tubercles and in the number of lamellae on the rhinophoral clavus. Phyllidiella nigra is superficially similar to Phyllidiella cooraburrama , but the latter possesses fewer, very large multicompound, pale pink tubercles with broad, pale pink bases, and pale pink rims to the rhinophoral openings. Furthermore, P. cooraburrama possesses more lamellae (22-24) on the rhinophoral clavus (38-49 mm specimens).

Reference:
• Brunckhorst, D.J. (1993) The systematics and phylogeny of Phyllidiid Nudibranchs (Doridoidea). Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 16: 1-107.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (September 12) Phyllidiella nigra (van Hasselt, 1824).. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/phylnigr

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