Marionia sp. 2

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Tritoniidae

DISTRIBUTION

Indo-West Pacific

PHOTO

Bonotsu, Kagoshima, Southern Japan - on rocky or sandy bottom in this area, shallow water less than 10m. March, 2001. Photo: Mizuho Iwaihara.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (September 25) Marionia sp. 2 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/marisp2

Related messages


Marionia sp. from Japan

July 5, 2002
From: Hikaru Nakada


Hello Bill,
Here are two photographs of a nudibranch I found at Maedamisaki (Onna village, Okinawa, Japan). Could you please let me know its name.

Location: Maedamisaki (Onna villege, Okinawa, Japan)
Length: over 130mm!(TL)
Depth: 5m
W.temp: about 25C

Hikaru Nakada
http://www.cosmos.ne.jp/~divernk

divernk@m1.cosmos.ne.jp

Nakada, H., 2002 (Jul 5) Marionia sp. from Japan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7353

Dear Hikaru,
This is a species of Marionia which I am calling Marionia sp. 2 on the Forum. it belongs to the family Tritoniidae, many of which eat soft-corals. They are often found on soft corals and their colour and gills make them quite camouflaged. This species is not uncommon in the Indo-West Pacific but there are a number of names given to similar animals and until we sort out how many species there are it is probably best not to use the names.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jul 5). Comment on Marionia sp. from Japan by Hikaru Nakada. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7353

Marionia sp. 2 from Japan

October 1, 2001
From: Mizuho Iwaihara

Dear Bill,
Could you please help me identify this animal, which I found on March, 2001 at Bonotsu, Kagoshima, Southern Japan. I usually see this species on rocky or sandy bottom in this area, shallow water less than 10m.

I think this animal is a tritoniid but I could not find the exact species.
Mizuho

iwa@fc4.so-net.ne.jp

Iwaihara, M., 2001 (Oct 1) Marionia sp. 2 from Japan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5130

Dear Mizuho,
Your animal is indeed a tritoniid. It is a species of Marionia but I am afraid that our knowledge of the family is not good enough to give them names at present. Is this one of the species which regularly opens and shuts its gills as it is crawling along? In some species the gills expand into large bushy structures which almost completely hide the animal while in others the gills expand and contract regularly. I suspect the ones that expand and contract feed on the xeniid soft corals which rhythmically open and close their tentacles.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Oct 1). Comment on Marionia sp. 2 from Japan by Mizuho Iwaihara. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5130