Phestilla melanobrachia
Bergh, 1874
» 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,
This is the black form of Phestilla melanobrachia. It is obviously been in an altercation with something because each black dot represents a lost ceras, or to be more positive, each black dot represents the bud of a new cerata. Like Phyllodesmium, species of Phestilla lack cnidosacs, the nematocysts of the corals they eat, obviously not up to the job of defending a nudibranch from predators. As you will see on the autotomy page, species of both these unrelated genera use their ability to drop off cerata as a defensive strategy, just like some lizards can drop their tails.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
| Location: | Bali, Indonesia |
| Photographer: | Mike Krampf |
| Camera: | Olympus μ600 › View EXIF properties |
| Taken on: | July 26, 2007 |
| Viewed: | 487 times |
| Posted: | 11 months ago |
| Updated: | 7 months ago |
« Hoplodoris estrelyado | Other nudibranch photos (page 471) | Trinchesia yamasui »
Other photos of Phestilla melanobrachia
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Opisthobranchia |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Aeolidina |
| Family: | Tergipedidae |
| Species: | Phestilla melanobrachia |