Opisthobranch of the Week is Flabellina exoptata

Flabellina exoptata

Image courtesy of Phil Garner
Mainit Dive Site, Anilao, Philippines

Image courtesy of Phil Garner
Mainit Dive Site, Anilao, Philippines

Flabellina exoptata Gosliner & Willan, 1991

In NSSI 2nd edition we categorize the Flabelllinids by the morphology of their rhinophores. F. exoptata falls into the group with papillate rhinophores, the papillae being concentrated on the posterior side of thee rhinophore.

The body is purple-red. The cerata are thick and each one has purple subapical ring and a white or cream apex. The rhinophores are orange with yellow spots.

This aeolid feeds on hydroids of the genus Eudendrium. It is known from throughout the Indo-Pacific where it reaches 20 mm in length.

Great photo Phil.

Dave Behrens
Sammamish, WA 98074
June., 2022
Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com

Merry Passage worked as a genetics research scientist at Harbor UCLA for three decades. After retiring she has used her degrees from Arizona State University and laboratory experience as an aid to scuba diving. She spends countless hours researching many of the animals we find underwater. Her home office is filled with binders and identification books from algae to whales.

Phil Garner has been scuba diving since 1989. Before that, he enjoyed free diving the many reefs around Palos Verdes. He met Merry Passage during a beach dive at Marineland in 2006 and they have been a team ever since. Phil is the author of Diving The Palos Verdes Peninsula . He and Merry can be found branching as often as possible.

Send Merry email at mbpassage@yahoo.com
Send Phil email at pacificcoast101@yahoo.com

Phil Garner and Merry Passage

From left to right, Terry Gosliner, Angel Valdes, Dave Behrens La Jolla, Calif.

Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com