Phestilla minor
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 5–7 mm · max 9 mm
- Depth
- 0–5 m
- Native range
- Tropical Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa to the Great Barrier Reef, Indonesia and Hawaii.
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Description
A tiny aeolid that lives and feeds on Porites corals, often in pairs. It develops remarkably fast, growing from 2 to 9 mm in about ten days and maturing at 6–9 mm.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/tenellia-minor-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Very small aeolid with cerata swollen at the tips by glandular sacs. Two colour forms: one weakly pigmented and blending with the coral, the other heavily opaque white, matching small damaged patches on the colony.
Similar species
Phestilla lugubris is much larger (up to 40 mm); some Cuthona-like aeolids lack the glandular ceratal tips.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
On Porites colonies in shallow water, intertidal to about 5 m.
Food
Stony corals of the genus Porites.