Willey's Halgerda

Halgerda willeyi is a species of sea slug. It is a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Discodorididae.

Description

The body of the Halgerda willeyi is rigid, with a series of acute interconnecting ridges. The ridges are topped with a yellow or orange line. The grooves between the ridges have chocolate brown lines and these lines extend right to the edge of the mantle as numerous radiating lines. The body colour is translucent whitish. Gills and phinophores are white with chocolate brown lines and spots. This species is a fairly large halgerdid, and can reach 80 mm (average size is 50 mm).

Distribution

Halgerda willeyi has been reported throughout the western Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia and in the Red Sea.

Habitat

It feeds at night on sponges, while during the day it searches for dark areas or remains hidden under rocks.