Phyllodesmium poindimiei
(Risbec, 1928)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae

DISTRIBUTION

New Caledonia, eastern Australia, Western Australia. Recorded below from Okinawa.

PHOTO

La Perouse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, August 1979. PHOTO: John Fields.

This is one of the species of Phyllodesmium that does not harbour zooxanthellae in its tissues. The colour of the digestive glands ducts in the cerata is a deep pink in specimens I have observed. It has been found feeding on the telestacean soft coral Carijoa. Note the branching in the digestive gland ducts, a common feature in species of the genus.

References:
• Rudman, W.B. (1981) The anatomy and biology of alcyonarian feeding aeolid opisthobranch molluscs and their development of symbiosis with zooxanthellae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 72: 219-262.
• Rudman, W.B. (1991) Further studies on the taxonomy and biology of the octocoral-feeding genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 57(2): 167-203.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (May 8) Phyllodesmium poindimiei (Risbec, 1928). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/phylpoin

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