No photo available
Cup coral nudibranch
Phestilla melanobrachia
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 536543, checked 2026-10-31). Recorded in Maldives sources as Tenellia melanobrachia.
- English
- Cup coral nudibranch
- Scientific
- Phestilla melanobrachia
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Sea slugs
- Maximum size
- Up to about 4 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 2 to 20 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
An aeolid nudibranch that feeds on sun corals (Tubastraea and relatives) and takes on their colour, so it may be orange, yellow, brown or black. It lays its eggs on the coral it eats and is hard to spot.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=1); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=47, 3 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Phestilla-melanobrachia.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=536543
- inaturalist.org /taxa/50528
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Phestilla_melanobranchia,_Osezaki.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.