Siphopteron makisig
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 3–6 mm
- Native range
- Western Pacific: the Philippines (type locality Calatagan, Batangas), Indonesia and Australia.
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Description
A tiny headshield slug (Gastropteridae) described from the Philippines in 2017; its name is Tagalog for 'elegant'. It was earlier studied as Siphopteron sp. 1 in work on the hypodermic mating of these slugs, which inject sperm through the body wall with a spiny penis.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/siphopteron-makisig-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Body, head shield and parapodia translucent white to faint red. A yellow line runs along the front of the head shield, and red-orange lines edge the head shield up to the tip of the siphon. Parapodial margins yellow and orange; a bright red-orange ring at the rear of the visceral hump and an orange-red tip to the flagellum; a yellow stripe along the foot.
Similar species
Siphopteron quadrispinosum is yellow-bodied with red only at the siphon apex and flagellum, and has a white parapodial margin.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Coral reefs.