Sagaminopteron ornatum from Port Phillip Heads

May 19, 2006
From: Marc Saunders

Hi Bill,

Would you mind helping me out with the identity of this guy, which I think is a Chromodorid of some kind. No doubt it is common, but I can't find it in my field guides.

Locality: The Maze, Port Phillip Bay, 10, Victoria, Australia, Bass Strait, 25 APR 2006. Length: 25mm. Photographer: Marc SAUNDERS.

Thanks
Marc.

marc@irm.net.au

Saunders, M., 2006 (May 19) Sagaminopteron ornatum from Port Phillip Heads. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16609

Dear Marc,
Although colourful this is not a chromodorid. In fact it is not a nudibranch, but belongs to a more 'primitive' group of sea slugs, the Cephalaspidea [Bubble shells, Bullomorpha], in which many representatives still have some trace of a shell. Your animal is Sagaminopteron ornatum . It is a bit different in colour from animals I am more familiar with from eastern Australia, but this appears to be the colour pattern found in southern Australia. Have a look at the Fact Sheet and other messages from Australia and Japan.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (May 19). Comment on Sagaminopteron ornatum from Port Phillip Heads by Marc Saunders. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16609

Factsheet

Sagaminopteron ornatum

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