Phyllidiopsis pipeki
Brunckhorst, 1993

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Phyllidiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Coral Sea north to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Fiji.

PHOTO

15-25m, Madang, Papua New Guinea, Feb 1988, Dorsal view of 48mm animal. PHOTO: R.C. Willan. (Brunckhorst, 1993: Plate 9A).

Notes from Brunckhorst,1993:
Phyllidiopsis pipeki Large and elongate, growing to 85mm. Bright pink colouration and consistently two black longitudinal lines only. The lines may be broken, and occasionally there can be a few black spots or rays extending to the mantle edge. The large tubercles, either single or compound have a steep pink base and a rounded white tip. They are sparsely scattered over dorsum. The rhinophores are pink with a black tip and a black line down posterior edge.

Two other species with similarly coloured rhinophores:
Phyllidiopsis krempfi, Large species characterised by predominantly pink coloration, and broad based multicompound tubercles with paler apices. Apart from two primary longitudinal black lines, other black lines of variable size occur irregularly. Rhinophores pink on anterior face and around base, black on apex and posterior face.
Phyllidiopsis fissuratus, which is also pink and black but is extremely tuberculate, with very tall compound and coalesced tubercles with deep black valleys between. It also has a translucent raised rim around the raised rhinophore pockets and a smooth tall raised pink anal papilla.

Reference:
• Brunckhorst, D.J. (1993) The systematics and phylogeny of Phyllidiid Nudibranchs (Doridoidea). Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 16: 1-107.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (December 12) Phyllidiopsis pipeki Brunckhorst, 1993. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/phylpipe

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