Lobiger viridis
Pease, 1863

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: OXYNOOIDEA
Family: Oxynoidae

DISTRIBUTION

Tropical Indo-West Pacific.

PHOTO

UPPER: Normal crawling position with parapodial 'tentacles' rolled up. LOWER LEFT: After disturbance the parapodial 'tantacles' rapidly unroll to display bright colour patches. LOWER RIGHT: Crawling on Caulerpa with 'tentacles' trailing. Heron Is, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia, June, 1983. PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.

RELATED TOPIC

Defensive colouration in sea slugs

When crawling on its green algal food (Caulerpa racemosa), Lobiger is almost invisible. However when disturbed the tentacles around the parapodial edge unroll to display brightly coloured patches and to effectively double the size of the animal to potential predators. In extreme situations the tentacles can break off. By this stage they have exuded a sticky secretion and wiggle and writhe for some time probably in an attempt to distract potential predators. This process of casting off body parts is known as autotomy.

See Lobiger references.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (July 14) Lobiger viridis Pease, 1863. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/lobiviri

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