Phyllodesmium horridum | |
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Phyllodesmium horridum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
(unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
Superfamily: | Aeolidioidea |
Family: | Facelinidae |
Subfamily: | Favorininae |
Genus: | Phyllodesmium |
Species: | P. horridum |
Binomial name | |
Phyllodesmium horridum (Macnae, 1954) |
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Synonyms[1] | |
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The coral nudibranch, Phyllodesmium horridum, is a species of sea slug, specifically an aeolid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.
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This species is found off Australia and Japan as well as around the South African coast from False Bay to Sodwana Bay, intertidally to at least 30 m.[2]
The length of the slug is 8-27 mm.[1]
Around the South African coast, the coral nudibranch is typically between 30 and 40 mm[3] in total length. It is a slender pale-bodied aeolid with long paired pinkish cerata. The cerata have a bluish-white stripe running down their length, as does the body. Its rhinophores are smooth.
This species contains no zooxanthellae.[1]
Phyllodesmium horridum feeds on corals of the genus Melitodes[1] (family Melithaeidae). This species of nudibranch feeds on gorgonians of the genus, Acabaria (also family Melithaeidae).
The egg ribbon is a gelatinous mass with many small white eggs.[4]