OKINAWAN
OPISTHOBRANCH OF THE WEEK

Opisthobranch of the Week Data

Taxonomy:

        Oxynoe viridis is considered to be uncommon on Okinawa as I have collected a total of only 4 individuals over a good many years of diving here. These small attractive animals are found on the common green alga, Caulerpa racemosa. In all fairness, it should be pointed out that these small animals are perhaps far more common here than the above numbers would indicate; with large populations of the above Caulerpa alga found at numerous Okinawan dive sites, one would imagine fairly large numbers of the sacoglossan as well.

        As a partial defense the head of the animal can be retracted into the shell, but the elongated tail, failing to be adequately protected by the diminutive shell, is often autotomized when disturbed.