Yellow-Tipped Phyllodesmium

Phyllodesmium briareum is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.

Distribution

The distribution of Phyllodesmium briareum includes Indo-Pacific and Australia.

Description

Phyllodesmium briareum uses camouflage and looks like the soft coral Briareum violacea with which it is often found. It grows to 25 mm in length. This species contains zooxanthellae but has cerata of conventional aeolid shape. It has long, narrow, soft body with many long finger-like cerata arranged in rows across the body. Main color of body is usually beige or brown with yellow tipped cerata. The rhinophores are long, smooth and roughly equal in length to the cephalic tentacles, and they are also yellow tipped as cerata. It uses camouflage and looks like the soft coral Briareum violacea with which it is often found. Its cerata end in glands that produce horrible sticky stuff to deter predators. The cerata can even drop off and wriggle around, hopefully distracting assailants for long enough for the slug to escape.

Ecology

Phyllodesmium briareum is reported to feed on a number of species of briareid soft coral including Solenopodium stelleri and Briareum stecheri (sensu MacFadyen, 1936). It is also reported from Pachyclavularia violacea.