Phyllodesmium crypticum
Beaded soft coral eater
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 45 mm · max 60 mm
- Native range
- Indo-West Pacific, including the Red Sea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Australia.
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Description
A relatively large aeolid that is remarkably well camouflaged on its prey, the pulsing soft coral Xenia, whose polyps its cerata mimic. It holds zooxanthellae from the coral in its digestive gland, and when disturbed it sheds cerata that keep moving and secrete a sticky substance.
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Identification
Body almost hidden by closely packed large cerata, arranged in up to eight clusters per side, quadrangular in cross-section with nodular ridges along their edges. Whitish translucent body with pale orange to yellow-brown internal organs; cerata tipped white, sometimes tinged blue or brown. Long oral tentacles; rhinophores smooth, about two-thirds their length.
Similar species
Phyllodesmium orientale (Japan) is very hard to separate externally and is distinguished mainly by the radula.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Coral reefs, on colonies of Xenia soft coral; recorded around 6 m.
Food
Soft corals of the genus Xenia.