2026 · Photo: Boaz Liebes
Nembrotha cristata
Crested nembrotha
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Native range
- Tropical Indo-West Pacific.
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Description
A large, striking polycerid nudibranch, black with raised green ridges and pustules. Like other Nembrotha it eats colonial ascidians and stores their defensive chemicals.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/nembrotha-cristata-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Black body with bright green ridges and pustules; the foot margin is edged in green. Rhinophores and gills black, often tinged with green.
Similar species
Nembrotha kubaryana is very similar but has an orange to red border on the foot, rhinophore sheaths and oral lappets.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Coral reefs and slopes, on its ascidian prey.
Food
The green colonial ascidian Eudistoma olivaceum.
