Felimare tricolor
Tricolored felimare
Israel · Mediterranean
- Size
- 20–30 mm
- Depth
- 0–100 m
- Native range
- Mediterranean and the adjacent eastern Atlantic (Iberia to Brittany)
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Description
A small blue-and-yellow chromodorid, one of a group of similar blue Felimare species in the Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic. Its defensive glands at the rear of the mantle contain sesquiterpenoids (such as longifolin) obtained from Dysidea sponges. Some authors have argued the name tricolor is unidentifiable and used F. midatlantica for this species.
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Identification
Slender, blue body with a yellow mantle border. A single yellow (whitish in juveniles) midline runs from between the rhinophores back to the gill, encircles it and continues towards the tail; turquoise spots often line up on either side of it. A pale or yellow line runs along each flank. Rhinophores and gills dark blue, the gill rachis beige to white.
Similar species
Felimare fontandraui, F. villafranca and F. bilineata are similar blue-and-yellow species; F. tricolor is told by its single midline that encircles the gill, the yellow border and the row of turquoise spots. F. picta is much larger and covered in many yellow lines.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Rocky substrates and vertical walls rich in algae and invertebrates, also under stones; from the intertidal to over 100 m.
Food
Sponges: Dysidea avara and D. fragilis; also reported on Scalarispongia scalaris.