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Doriopsilla elitae
Image courtesy of Jeff HamannAruba, Caribbean
Listed as Doriopsilla sp. 1 in Caribbean Sea Slugs . This new species was at the printer at the same time as the book. Named after Jeff Hamann's daughter Elita is a fitting tribute to both daughter and critter, as both are beautiful. D. elitae is uniformly yellow to orange with numerous white spots. Specimens have four large spots on the center of the dorsum. The rhinophores and gill match the color of the body. Like all porostomes, this species lacks a radula and feeds on sponges by salivating digestive enzymes on the sponge and then slurps the resulting sponge soup up with its oral tube. Specimens measuring up to 20 mm have been collected in Aruba, St. Vincent & the Genadines, Grenada and Martinique.
Reference: Valdes, A. & J. Hamann. 2007. Two New Species of Doriopsilla from the Tropical Western Atlantic with Remarks on Cariopsillidae Ortea & Espinosa, 2005. The Veliger 50(3): 210-218.
Gig Harbor, Washington
Sept., 2009
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