2026 · Photo: Boaz Liebes
Hypselodoris skyleri
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 8–15 mm
- Native range
- Western and central Pacific: the Philippines, Indonesia, southern Japan and the Marshall Islands
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Description
A small Hypselodoris described in 2018, with the type locality at Sea Pen, Tingloy, Maricaban Island, Batangas (Anilao area), Philippines. It is named after Skyler Rodgers, son of co-author Rebecca Johnson; its scattered bright white spots recall stars in a clear night sky.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/hypselodoris-skyleri-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Up to about 15 mm. Long, slender, translucent pink to peach body with fine brown longitudinal lines on the back, sides and foot. Small opaque white spots sit on tiny tubercles all over the body, with blue-purple spots around the mantle and foot edges. Gills (7–8) white with red-orange on the outer surface. Rhinophore clubs white with three red bands.
Similar species
Hypselodoris decorata and H. maculosa have opaque white (not brown) lines, and their white spots are confined to the margins and flush with the skin; H. maculosa usually has only two red rhinophore rings.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Tropical reefs.
Food
Like other Hypselodoris, presumably feeds on sponges.