Aldisa fragaria Tibiriça, Pola & Cervera, 2017

Aldisa fragaria Tibiriça, Pola & Cervera, 2017

This species has been observed on Reunion and Mauritius Islands

Order : Nudibranchia
Suborder : Euctenidiacea
Superfamily : Doridoidea
Family : Cadlinidae
Distribution : Heron island, Philippines, MozambiqueReunion Island
Maximal size : 40 mm
Abundance : Seldom on the fore reef zone

Species characteristics :

This species has a red body with two depressions and has brown to black tubercules surrounded by a lighter ring

There are patch of white and yellow sprinkled on the dorsum especially along two transverse lines

Rhinophores and gills are red

Showing species characteristics...

Photo Sophie Darnis and Jean Cardon
Reunion, "Maharani" at Saint Paul, 10 m, 8 November 2009, size : 20 mm

See more about : Sightening and mating periods

Remarks :

Identification confirmed by Bill Rudman and Yara Tibiriça
This specimen looks like Aldisa sp 2 from Bill Rudman site, Aldisa sp 4 in NSSI, Nudibranch & Sea Slug Identification, Indo-Pacific, Gosliner, Valdés & Behrens, 2015 and Aldisa sp 1 from Willan in Nudibranch of Heron Island
Our specimen present also a yellow speckles coloration

Bibliographic data :

There are two large pits : one behind the rhinophores and the other immediatly in front of the gills
    The mantle is covered in regularly spaced, low pustules which varie in size but are smallest towards the margin. It also has a ring of tubercles surrounding the two depressions
    Two transverse lines of white speckles, sometimes fused, occur between the rhinophores and the gills. These lines, which look like sprinkled sand, are irregular and vary in their intensity between specimens. There are other patch of white sprinkled on the dorsum, but the overall appearence looks as if there were only the two lines.
    The six bipinnate gills form a complete circle around the anus. They are uniformly red and spinkled with white.
    The lamellate rhinophores are uniformly red
    The foot is the same color as the rest of the animal
    The spawn mass is pale red and laid in an upright coil
    This specimen looks like Aldisa sp 1, but in Aldisa sp 1 there are numerous small pustules without darker coloration.

References :

Bill Rudman Seaslug site : Sea Slug Forum : Aldisa sp 2
Nudipixel Aldisa sp

Publications :

Tibiriça Y., Pola M. & Cervera J.L. (2017). Two new species of the genus Aldisa Bergh, 1878 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia) from southern Mozambique. Marine Biodiversity.

Other photos of Aldisa fragaria :

Photo Sophie Darnis and Jean Cardon

Reunion, "Maharani" at Saint Paul, 10 m, 8 November 2009, size : 20 mm

There are two large pits : one behind the rhinophores (a) and the other immediatly in front of the gills (b)

There is a ring of tubercles (c) surrounding the two depressions