Goniodoris nodosa
(Montagu, 1808)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: ANADORIDOIDEA
Family: Goniodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Northeastern Atlantic from Norway to northwest Spain, including British Isles.

PHOTO

Lephinchapel Reef, Loch Fyne on the west coast of Scotland, January 2000. 8 metres. Photo: Jim Anderson.

Grows to 27 mm in length. Body is translucent, with white speckling and bands and tinges of yellow and pink on the dorsum. Patches of transparent skin around the bases of the rhinophores and behind the gills, give the appearance of false 'pores'. A low keel runs down the middle of the back and on either side of this are small conical tubercles; a median keel is also visible on the dorsal surface of the metapodium or 'tail'. The oral tentacles are flattened and relatively large. Juveniles feed upon both ctenostome bryozoans, [such as Alcyonidium polyoum and Flustrellidra hispida], and cheilostome bryozoans such as Callopora dumerili, but adults feed on ascidians, such as Diplosoma listerianum, Botryllus schlosseri and Dendrodoa grossularia. Thompson (1988) notes that it is a common intertidal and shallow sublittoral species all around the British Isles, down to 20 m, although in southern Norway it has been reported down to 120 m.

Reference:
• Thompson, T.E. (1988) Molluscs: Benthic Opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series). No. 8. 2nd Edition. E.J.Brill/W. Backhuys: Leiden. 1-356.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (December 3) Goniodoris nodosa (Montagu, 1808). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/goninodo

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