Summary ⁷

These attractive red nudibranchs are quite common along the California coast, but also quite small. A big one would be 1 cm! You can distinguish them from other orange dorids by lack of spots or dark patches on the back and the distinctive rhinophores, which look a bit like upside-down grass skirts. The branchial plume is also almost always erect, no spreading to the sides.

Description ⁸

Size up to 30 mm in length.

Habitat ⁸

Found intertidally under boulders and in shallow water, normally feeding on the sponge Ophlitaspongia pennata.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Robin Agarwal (ANudibranchMom on iNaturalist), some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/30314434@N06/26296605323/
2. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/821067549
3. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda, http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/3403511316
4. (c) Minette Layne, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/7232133@N08/3666813469
5. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/5153659916
6. (c) Robin Agarwal (ANudibranchMom on iNaturalist), some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/30314434@N06/19682495388/
7. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
8. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostanga_pulchra

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• CalPhotos
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SeaLifeBase
• World Register of Marine Species

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