OKINAWAN
OPISTHOBRANCH OF THE WEEK
Aeolidiella alba Risbec, 1928 (9mm)
Opisthobranch of the Week Data
Taxonomy:
- Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
- Suborder: Aeolidina
- Family: Aeolidiidae
Frequency on Okinawa:
Collection Data:
- Individual Collection No: RFB #2498-D
- Location: Horseshoe Cliffs (26o30.0'N, 127o50.9'E)
- Date: 20 March, 1991 [20 Mar 91, 11 Jul 91]
- Depth: 15ft (4.6m) [5ft, 15ft]
- Water temperature at collection depth: Not recorded
- Size: TL 9mm [4mm, 9mm]
- Specimen deposited: California Academy of Sciences
[brackets indicate range for all Okinawa-collected specimens of the species]
Species Account:
Aeolidiella alba is considered to be very rare on Okinawa as I have seen and collected only 2 individuals over a good many years of diving here. Both collected individuals were found at Horseshoe Cliffs; the featured 9mm animal was found crawling upon a dense mat of red algae in a rocky cut near shore. The 4mm specimen was found amid a dense growth of brown algae in a live stony coral reef environment.
Copyright © 1999 Robert F. Bolland
Digitally manipulated photo
