Glossodoris stellatus from Tufi, Papua New Guinea

February 24, 2003
From: Dave Harasti


Hi Bill,
I recently did some diving (Jan 2003) at Tufi in Papua New Guniea and I found a couple of nudibranchs that I am unable to identify. I have attached two images that I believe is a Ceratosoma species of some sort.

I found this animal on several occasions on the outer reefs and it was only ever found on a brown/grey soft fan coral which I believe it fed on. The size of the species was generally about 5 - 10cm. Any idea on which species it is?.

Also, I photographed 36 different species of nudibranchs and related species over my 2 weeks there. I have put them on my website at: http://www.webone.com.au/~diving/png

Cheers,
Dave Harasti

diving@webone.com.au

Thanks Dave,
This is Glossodoris stellatus. As I have said on the Fact Sheet for this species, its very reduced mantle skirt does make it look quite like a species of Ceratosoma. It is good to get more photos because we know very little about it. As a chromodorid I am pretty sure it will feed on a sponge rather than a fan-coral. Are these two photos of the animals just as you found them, or did you take them off the corals for the photos? If they are photographed as you found them, then the pinkish growth the upper animal is crawling over, which is a sponge, could possibly be its food sponge.

Another interesting additional piece of information is the orange-brown lines on the gills. Previously I have only seen black lines on the gills.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Feb 24). Comment on Glossodoris stellatus from Tufi, Papua New Guinea by Dave Harasti. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9249

Factsheet

Glossodoris stellatus

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