Nembrotha chamberlaini
Chamberlain's nembrotha
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- max 70 mm
- Native range
- Western Pacific, mainly the Philippines and Indonesia.
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Description
A colourful polycerid dorid nudibranch described in 1997. Like other Nembrotha it hunts colonial ascidians, including bright blue Rhopalaea.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/nembrotha-chamberlaini-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
White body heavily streaked with black or dark red lines. Gills deep maroon or crimson and sitting on a patch of the same colour. Rhinophore sheaths and stalks maroon; oral tentacles and foot margin blue to purple.
Similar species
Nembrotha purpureolineata can look almost identical; N. chamberlaini is told by its consistently uniform deep maroon gills on a matching spot.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Coral reefs, typically near colonies of its ascidian prey.
Food
Colonial ascidians, e.g. Rhopalaea, Clavelina and Oxycorynia.