Cerberilla albopunctata from East Timor

February 15, 2006
From: Brian Francisco


Hi Bill,
We think this animal is in the family Aeolidiidae, perhaps a juvenille species of Cerberilla. The individual was quite small.

Locality: Sandy Bottom, 14 meters, East Timor, Banda Sea, 10 February 2006, sandy slope. Length: approx 1 cm. Photographer: Brian Francisco

Thanks for your help.
Brian

francisco.brian@gmail.com

Francisco, B., 2006 (Feb 15) Cerberilla albopunctata from East Timor. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15825

Dear Brian,
This is indeed a Cerberilla, and I think it is Cerberilla albopunctata, a species previously only recorded from Japan. Your animal desn't have the distinct colour markings on the oral tentacles you can see on Japanese specimens, but I suspect that is because your animal is a juvenile. 

If it is the same, does that mean it has just arrived in Esat Timor? I doubt it, the most likely explanation is that not many people have been looking at these animals in your part of the world previously. Since they spend much of their time buried in the sand, they are not the first thing seen by reef divers
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Feb 15). Comment on Cerberilla albopunctata from East Timor by Brian Francisco. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15825

Factsheet

Cerberilla albopunctata

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