Phyllidia madangensis
Brunckhorst, 1993
» If you find this species has been misidentified, please let us know
Below is comment from Dr. Bill Rudman, go to Sea Slug Forum to read more information
Dear Mike,
I thinnk it would cause a few problems if the two large animals in your photo were mating. The blue one on the left is Phyllidia varicosa, while the large, predominantly black one is Phyllidia madangensis, although it is hard to distinguish it from P. carlsonhoffi from this photo. Over on the right of the photo is a smaller phyllidiid which looks like a species of Phyllidiella or perhaps Phyllidiopsis. I don't recall a species like this which seems to have black pigment right to the mantle edge.
To answer your question. I don't think the two large animals are mating. If you look carefully you can see the anal papilla on P. madangensis which means the head of P. varicosa and the 'tail' of P. madangensis are together, which is not a mating position.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
| Location: | Manado, Indonesia |
| Photographer: | Mike Krampf |
| Camera: | Olympus μ600 › View EXIF properties |
| Taken on: | October 25, 2006 |
| Viewed: | 515 times |
| Posted: | 1 year ago |
| Updated: | 10 months ago |
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Other photos of Phyllidia madangensis
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Opisthobranchia |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Doridina |
| Family: | Phyllidiidae |
| Species: | Phyllidia madangensis |