Opisthobranch of the Week is Facelina lineata

Facelina lineata

Image courtesy of Distant Parasharya
Poshitra (habitat: coral reef with predominant Pennaria (hydroid) species),Gulf of Kutch

Facelina lineata Eliot, 1005
Well every once in a while one comes along that can't be easily ID'ed. Here we go -Herviella - maybe; Flabellina - also a maybe. Wait!, hold the presses! Thanks to Stewart Clarke who is a frequent contributor to the site we have been alerted to the true identity, Facelina lineata ! Stewart in addition to his keen eyes underwater also has a very good memory! Stewart directed us to a 2009 posting on Bill Rudman's Sea Slug Fourum that solved the mystery! The description given there closely aligns with our unknown.
Body is translucent white with 4 thin white longitudinal lines. The rhinophores are long smooth and black. The cerata are on arches with a very characteristic white mid-length band followed by a tomato red band, and capped with a white cnidoblast. The head tentacles a very long and white, followed by patches of red on the head.
The locality is the Gulf of Kutch, which I have never heard of until now. This is on the west coast of India.

Good show Dishant and Stewart!

Dave Behrens
Sammamish, WA 98074
May., 2015
Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com
Send Stewart email at stewartclarke@hotmail.com

WEBMASTER'S NOTES: Dr. Dishant Parasharya received his PhD from the M. S. University of Baroda in India. His work included research on coral reefs of the Gulf of Kachchh. He has more than ten years of experience in marine research. He has worked with premier research conservation institutes such as Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation. He has recorded more than 20 species of opisthobranch for the first time from the Indian waters. He has travelled in all the four major coral reefs viz. Andamans, Lakshadweep, Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kachchh in India. He is currently involved in the Coral transplantation project. The project is one of its kinds for Gujarat. Dr. Dishant has more than 30 publications to his name. His major interests are corals and associated marine fauna including coastal birds. He is also participating in camping, nature trails, bird watching etc.

By the way folks, this is the only image we have of this Aeolid! Anyone else seen it?

Send Dishant email at dparasharya@gmail.com

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

Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com