Phyllodesmium hyalinum

Phyllodesmium hyalinum is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.[2]

Phyllodesmium hyalinum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia
clade Aeolidida
Superfamily:
Aeolidioidea
Family:
Facelinidae
Subfamily:
Favorininae
Genus:
Phyllodesmium
Species:
P. hyalinum
Binomial name
Phyllodesmium hyalinum
Synonyms[2]
  • Phyllodesmium xeniae Gohar & Aboul-Ela, 1957
  • Favorinus horridus brevitentaculatus Engel & van Eeken, 1962

Phyllodesmium hyalinum is the type species of the genus Phyllodesmium.[3][4]

Distribution

This species was described from the Red Sea. The distribution of Phyllodesmium hyalinum includes Tanzania, Australia, Japan, Philippines and the Marshall islands.[5]

Description

The length of this sea slug is up to 45 mm. It is a pale pink-blue, mottled species, with loosely spaced cerata. This species contains zooxanthellae.

Ecology

The habitat of Phyllodesmium hyalinum is among shallow coral reefs with Xenia octocorals. It feeds on Xenia, Xenia umbellata and Heteroxenia fuscescens. This species is more frequently recorded as an incidental to research carried out on its prey species, the alcyonarians Xenia and Heteroxenia.[2] It is camouflaged by the similarity of its cerata to the tentacles of these corals and hides in burrows made in the fleshy base of the Xenia.[5]

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References
  1. Ehrenberg, C. G., 1831. Symbolae physicae seu icones et descriptiones animalium evertebratorum sepositis insect is quae ex itinere per Africam Borealem et Asiam Occidentalem. Decas I Mollusca.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2015). Phyllodesmium hyalinum. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-06
  3. Rudman W.B. (1991) Further studies on the taxonomy and biology of the octocoral-feeding genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies 57: 167-203.
  4. Burghardt I. & Wägele H. (2004). "A new solar powered species of the genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea) from Indonesia with analysis of its photosynthetic activity and notes on biology". Zootaxa 596: 1-18. PDFt.
  5. Rudman, W.B., 1998 (October 15) Phyllodesmium hyalinum Ehrenbergh, 1831. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  • Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 91-630-4594-X. 448 pp
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