Stiliger ornatus
Ornate mop sap-sucker
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 5–10 mm
- Depth
- 0 m
- Native range
- Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and Mozambique to Japan and eastern Australia
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Description
A small sacoglossan, the type species of Stiliger, described by Ehrenberg from the Red Sea. It lives and feeds on Codium green algae; individuals have been observed trailing one another in the lab.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/stiliger-cf-ornatus-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Small (to about 10 mm) slug with swollen cerata containing the dark digestive gland and a coloured band just below each ceras tip. Colour ranges from pale to very dark; usually found on its Codium host.
Similar species
Placida species on Codium are flatter with a branching green digestive-gland pattern in the cerata.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Reef flats and shallow subtidal on Codium.
Food
Green algae of the genus Codium (e.g. C. spongiosum, C. intricatum).