2026 · Photo: Boaz Liebes
Hexabranchus lacer
Decumbent Spanish dancer
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 220 mm
- Native range
- Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa and the Arabian Gulf to Japan, Australia, Hawaii and Polynesia
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Description
One of the 'Spanish dancers': a 2023 review of Hexabranchidae split the formerly single H. sanguineus into several species, and H. lacer is the widespread Indo-Pacific form. A large dorid that swims by undulating its unfurled mantle when disturbed.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/hexabranchus-lacer-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Large, broad dorid with a wavy mantle usually held curled up. Colour very variable, pale yellow to red or reddish-purple, often with irregular red and white blotches; the resting mantle is covered with pustules. Red rhinophores with white-edged lamellae and six separate, much-branched gills around the anus, which do not retract into a pocket.
Similar species
Hexabranchus sanguineus (Red Sea) and H. aureomarginatus are similar; they differ in gill posture, egg-mass shape and colour details.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Coral reefs; juveniles in tide pools and shallow water, adults on sheltered deeper reef.
Food
Sponges.