| Noumea flava | |
|---|---|
| A pair of Noumea flava, Philippines | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Doridoidea |
| Family: | Chromodorididae |
| Genus: | Noumea |
| Species: | N. flava |
| Binomial name | |
| Noumea flava Rudman, 1986 |
|
Noumea flava is a species of colorful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.[1]
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This nudibranch was originally described from East Africa, but it has an Indo-West Pacific distribution.[2]
This species is usually less than 2 inches in length. It has a yellow body with an identifying red mantle margin which has two semi-permanent mantle folds about mid-body. The rhinophores and branchia (gills) are yellow. Identifying individual yellow sea slugs within the genus Noumea can be challenging because yellow forms exist in several related species.
This species is often found on the yellow sponge Hyrtios, which appears to be its preferred food source.[3]