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Phyllodesmium briareum
Nudibranch about 3cm long, large for this type of nudibranch. I love the yellow tips on each "tentacle". Reminds me of one of the aliens in Men in Black, so we always call it the MIB Nudibranch.
Coral Reef. Spotted at Arthur's Rock
Spotted on Apr 25, 2015
Submitted on May 4, 2015
2 Comments
Hi Ingred
According to wikipedia "this species contains zooxanthellae", which I gather would mean that is is sequestering symbiotic algae. However, also according to wikipedia, "Phyllodesmium briareum (nudibranches) feeds on Briareidae", a type of coral that they mimic. So maybe both. The world is awesome.
Very elaborate tentacles. This one does not look like it is sequestering symbiotic algae, although some algae do photosynthesize with algae that have pigments that are goldenyellow and no green so maybe there are some.