Is this a nudibranch?

January 21, 2004
From: Scott Godwin

My girlfriend and I found a small animal washed up on a beach about 40 km north of Port Macquarie, New South Wales [Australia]. It was about 4 - 5 cm in length, with a soft, muscular body like that of a gastropod but without the characteristic foot.

It had four 'arms' extending from its sides. The two anterior arms were longer than the posterior ones, and all four ended in a number of feathery appendages that looked to me like gills. There were more of these appendages extending posteriorly from the tail. The animal had two clearly visible eyes. It was a pale creamy white on the ventral surface and had very dark bluish black stripes running along the length of its dorsal surface and extending out along the 'arms'. I have included a sketch of the animal viewed from the dorsal side.
Scott Godwin

sgodwin@metz.une.edu.au

Godwin, S., 2004 (Jan 21) Is this a nudibranch?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11949

Dear Scott,
Thanks for the sketch. I think I could have identified this from your good description. It is a very strange aeolid nudibranch called Glaucus atlanticus which spends its life floating upside down in the open ocean feeding on Blue bottles and related cnidarians. Have a look at the species Fact Sheet for more information.

As Juleen's message from South Africa illustrates, this species is found in warm and temperate waters throughout the world. Be careful if you pick this animal up, because it stores the stinging cells of the blue bottle at the tips of the appendages [cerata] on each side of its body
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Jan 21). Comment on Is this a nudibranch? by Scott Godwin. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11949

Factsheet

Glaucus atlanticus

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