Diversidoris crocea

Diversidoris crocea
A live individual of Diversidoris crocea in Guam, head end towards the right
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea

Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Chromodorididae
Genus: Diversidoris
Species: D. crocea
Binomial name
Diversidoris crocea
(Rudman, 1986)
Synonyms

Noumea crocea Rudman, 1986 (basionym)

Diversidoris crocea is a species of colorful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.[1]

Distribution

This species is found in the tropical western Pacific, including: Indonesia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Guam, and south to Queensland, Australia.[2]

Description

This nudibranch is usually less than 2 inches in length. It has a yellow body with a pale mantle margin that has two semi-permanent mantle folds about mid-body. The rhinophores and branchia (gills) are also yellow. However, identifying individual yellow sea slugs within the genus Diversidoris can be challenging because yellow forms exist in many related species.

Ecology

This species is often found on the yellow sponge Darwinella, which appears to be its preferred food source.[3]

References

  1. WoRMS, World Register of Marine Species
  2. Noumea crocea, Sea Slug Forum.
  3. Noumea crocea food source, Sea Slug Forum.

Further reading

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