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Opisthobranch of the Week Data
Taxonomy:
Phyllidia sp. 2 is considered to be very rare on Okinawa's main island; I've personally never seen one during many years of diving in Okinawan waters. This dorid was photographed by Shawn Miller at a common Okinawan dive site, Maeda Point (Maeda Misaki) during November of 2011 and Shawn's above image is used here with his kind permission. Shawn reports seeing only the above single individual of this apparent undescribed species.
As of the current date (Nov 2011) there is only one other undescribed Phyllidia species on these pages from Okinawan waters.
Phyllidia sp. 2 is very similar to an animal shown in Gosliner, Behrens, and Valdés (p. 292, as Phyllidia sp. 3, 2008) and the following description is taken from that reference:
Identification: Color light blue, largely the result of the presence of small opaque white spots. Ridges greatly reduced w/ only a few tubercles present. A "Y-shaped" black patch present between rhinophores followed by a black transverse band and other varied black markings.
Natural History: Found at the base of relatively steep slopes in deeper water from 25-30 m depth.
Size: Length 60 mm.
Distribution: Known only from Philippines, Indonesia, and possibly Japan.
Literature Cited:
