Pectenodoris trilineata
(Adams & Reeve, 1850)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Chromodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Tropical western Pacific.

PHOTO

Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, June 1983. UPPER: Large animal (12mm long) with orange markings on white lines. LOWER: Animals (7-5mm long alive) clustered on food sponge, Dysidea sp.. Note animals half embedded in depressions they have eaten out in sponge colony.
PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.

This small, but brilliantly coloured species, seldom grows larger than 7mm. It is often found clustered in groups on a blue sponge Dysidea sp..

Although usually animals have three white lines, as their name suggests, sometimes the lines can be broken into a series of dashes, or the outer two lines can be absent (Rudman, 1986). Sometimes there are yellow or orange markings on the white lines.

See the Noumea purpurea Colour Group Page to compare this species with others of similar colour.

References:
•Rudman, W.B. (1984) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: a review of the genera. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 81: 115-273.
•Rudman, W.B. (1986) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Noumea purpurea and Chromodoris decora colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 86(4): 309-353.
Johnson, R.F. & Gosliner, T.M. (1998). The genus Pectenodoris (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) from the Indo-Pacific, with the description of a new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 50(12): 295-306.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (December 17) Pectenodoris trilineata (Adams & Reeve, 1850). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/pecttril

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