Facelina bilineata from Hachijo Is., Japan
May 15, 2002
From: Nishina Masayoshi
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Dear Bill,
When I turned over a stone, I found this animal. I suspect this animal belong to Phidiana. The rhinophores have edged annuli like a screw. I suspect the orange sponge is the food for the animal.
Date:2002 April 21
Location: Hachijo Island Japan
Depth: 6m
Length: 10mm
Photo by N.Chikako
Best Regards,
Nishina Masayoshi
http://umiushi.zive.net/index.html
nishina@wips.co.jp
Dear Nishina,
This is Facelina bilineata. Your animal looks almost identical to the colour painting published by Baba (1935) of an animal from Mutsu Bay that he considered to be a variety of his Cuthona (Hervia) quadrilineata (Baba, 1930) [= Facelina quadrilineata]. It is only very recently that Hirano & Ito (1998) have shown that this is a distinct species. Have a look at the page comparing the development of these two very similarly coloured sympatric species -Facelina bilineata and Facelina quadrilineata.
The characteristic colour lines of this species can range from this bright orange to a quite dull brown.
• Baba,K (1935): Report on the biological survey of Mutsu Bay (27). Nudibranchia of Mutsu Bay. Science Reports of the Tohoku Imperial University, series 4, Biology 10(2, August), 331-360. (Pls.5-7)
• Hirano, Y.J. & Ito, M. (1998). 'Facelinella quadrilineata' (Baba, 1930), a pair of cryptic species of Facelina from Japan. Zoological Science, 15: 791-797.
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Facelina bilineata from Japan
From: Nishina Masayoshi, May 16, 2002