Scyllaea pelagica from Virgin Ids, Caribbean

May 6, 2005
From: Suzy Hime

Whilst doing our safety stop on a dive in the British Virgin Islands our dive master spotted this nudibranch on a polystyrene mooring line float in about 17 feet of water. There was a growth of what I believe are small hydroids on the float on which it was presumably feeding. It was in on the wreck of the Fearless which is a 110ft wooden minesweeper which sits upright next to a small coral wall on a sandy bottom and is west of Great Harbor Point, Peter Island

Locality: Wreck of Fearless, Peter Island. British Virgin Islands. Caribbean.
Depth: 17 feet. Length: 20-25 mms (guesstimate). 18 April 2005. Polystyrene float on mooring line over wreck. Photographer: Suzy Hime

I took the attached photo of it and when we tried identifying it from Paul Humann's book Reef Creatures we decided it could only be Scyllaea pelagica - the Sargussum Nudibranch - in spite of the fact there was no Sargasso weed to be seen. I noticed that it has some bright blue spots which were more obvious when I zoomed in on the photo. It looks very like the specimen in your photograph right down to the blue spots, dark edges and white marks. Can you confirm the identification please?

Regards,
Suzy Hime

suzy@ishime.go-plus.net

Hime, S.E., 2005 (May 6) Scyllaea pelagica from Virgin Ids, Caribbean. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13679

Dear Suzy,
Yes this is Scyllaea pelagica. It is often found on Sargassum and other floating - and sometimes attached - brown algae, but the attraction are the hydroid colonies it feeds on. Its colour pattern, certainly suggests it has evolved to live on brown algae, where it is so well camouflaged, so it does seem rather conspicuous - and unprotected - when found on other floating objects such as white polysterene or plastic floats.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (May 6). Comment on Scyllaea pelagica from Virgin Ids, Caribbean by Suzy Hime. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13679

Factsheet

Scyllaea pelagica

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