Phyllodesmium crypticum from sthn Queensland [1]

September 1, 2008
From: Gary Cobb


Hi Bill and everyone!
I see you mentioned Phyllodesmium crypticum. At Alexandra Headland intertidal area I have found many of these beautiful animals. Many egg masses too. You have to be very careful when handling this species ... it casts it's cerata at the slightest touch! In this message the animal shot on white is a 5 mm long juvenile.

Locality: Alexandra Headland, 10-100 mm , Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 19 April 2004, Intertial and subtidal. Length: 5-55 mm. Photographer: Gary Cobb.

See also Part 2 [#20423 ].
Cheers
Gary Cobb

gary@nudibranch.com.au

Cobb, G.C., 2008 (Sep 1) Phyllodesmium crypticum from sthn Queensland [1]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20422

Thanks Gary,

Yes one of the problems of studying these animals is their tendency to drop off their cerata [see autotomy page]. Your photos, and the ones in the second message, show many of the characters of those species of Phyllodesmium which feed on xeniid soft corals. All of them restrict the secondary and tertiary branching of the digestive gland to the cerata, so the body wall is translucent white with only the main ducts of the digestive gland, leading from the stomach to the cerata, showing through the body wall as brown lines. By comparison, the new Phyllodesmium koehleri [see message #21841] has branches of the digestive gland throughout the body wall and even the rhinophores.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Sep 1). Comment on Phyllodesmium crypticum from sthn Queensland [1] by Gary Cobb. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20422

Factsheet

Phyllodesmium crypticum

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