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Asteronotus mimeticus Gosliner & Valdés, 2002
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Click the thumbnail photos to enhance!
Asteronotus mimeticus is a very cryptic dorid. The oval body ranges in colour from
brown to yellowish to grey, the mantle can be smooth, with tubercles or with papillae,
sometimes there can be some white spots on the mantle. The rhinophores and gills
are difficult to see. This species is mainly recognisable from the sponge it is
living and feeding on: Carteriospongia and Phyllospongia lamellosa.
You have to look for the animals on the underside of these sponges.
Very similar is Asteronotus spongicolus
which has an elongated body with a median pale line on the mantle.
This specimen has most probably white parasite eggs in the gill pocket, the
rhinophores are bottom left and have a slightly golden sheen to them.
More information on Asteronotus mimeticus are on
Bill Rudman's Sea-Slug Forum!
How to cite:
Köhler, E. (2017), published 30 September 2017, Asteronotus mimeticus Gosliner & Valdés, 2002
available from https://www.Philippine-Sea-Slugs.com/Nudibranchia/Doridina/Asteronotus_mimeticus.htm
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