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2026 · Photo: Boaz Liebes
Tulip longtail dorid
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
A small, uniformly yellow chromodorid that lives on – and matches the colour of – the yellow sponges it eats. Its mantle usually has two semi-permanent folds and the tail is notably long.
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Body, gills and rhinophores yellow to yellow-orange, with a paler (sometimes darker orange) mantle margin. The mantle edge is undulating, typically with a pair of folds, and the foot extends into a long tail behind the mantle.
Several other yellow chromodorids (e.g. other Diversidoris and Thorunna species) mimic the same yellow sponges and can be hard to tell apart; the mantle folds, pale margin and long tail help.
Shallow reefs, under dead coral rubble and on lagoon pinnacles; about 3–15 m.
Yellow sponges, apparently Darwinella / Aplysilla sulphurea.
