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This species has been observed on Reunion and Madagascar Islands

Order : Sacoglossa Superfamily : Plakobranchoidea Family : Plakobranchidae Distribution : Indo-West Pacific Maximal size : 15 mm Abundance : Seldom if ever on the reef flat zone Species characteristics : Green body with a scattering of large and small opaque white spots. The large spots are on low papillae The margin of the parapodia is cream to light yellow. There is a Y-shaped opaque white mark on head that extends on to the base of the rhinophores. This white is followed by an area of green or orange and then a second patch of opaque white on the top of the rhinophore.
	Showing species characteristics...	Photo Christophe Cadet Reunion, "La saline lagoon", less 1 m , 24 December 2009, size : 11 mm

See more about : Sightening and mating periods
   See more about : Thuridilla phylogeny by Gosliner 1995

Remarks :

Identification confirmed by Terry Gosliner and Kathe Jensen
    Synonymous : (according Worms)
               - No other name

Bibliographic data :

In some specimens, the tips of the rhinophores are ornamented with orange
    Orange pigment is also present on the anterior margin of the foot
    Some specimens lack the broad white/cream parapodial border noted in the original description.
    The egg mass is an orange spiral and the ribbon has a variable number of irregular, orange pigment streaks on its upper surface.
    Gosliner (1995) named the animal for Kathe Jensen, a prominent researcher of sacoglossans.
    The row of raised white spots along each side of the parapodia are similar to Elysia sp1, but
              - T. kathae has a Y-shaped opaque white mark on head that extends on to the base of the rhinophores and then a second patch of opaque white on the tip of the rhinophore
              - The rhinophores are rolled like in Thuridilla and not grooved like in Elysia

References :

Bill Rudman Seaslug site : Sea Slug Forum : Thuridilla kathae

Publications :

  Gosliner, T.M. (1995) The genus Thuridilla (Opisthobranchia: Elysiidae) from the tropical Indo-Pacific, with a revision of the phylogeny and systematics of the Elysiidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 49(1) : 1-54.
    Jensen, K.R. (2007). Biogeography of the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge. 55: 255–281

Other photos of Thuridilla kathae :

Alain-Benoît Rassat Madagascar, Nosy bé, 19 October 2017

Christophe Cadet Reunion, "La saline lagoon", less 1 m , 24 December 2009, size : 11 mm There is a Y-shaped opaque white mark (a) on head that extends on to the base of the rhinophores. This white is followed by an area of green/orange (b) and then a second patch of opaque white (c) on the top of the rhinophores. This specimens lack (d) the broad white/cream parapodial border noted in the original description. Green body with a scattering of large (e) and small (f) opaque white spots. The large spots are on low papillae

Christophe Cadet Reunion, "La saline lagoon", less 1 m, 19 May 2010, size : 8 mm Orange pigment is also present on the anterior margin of the foot

See more about : Thuridilla phylogeny by Gosliner 1995

Reunion, Thuridilla kathae, at Etang salé, by Christophe Cadet