Varicose wart slug
Phyllidia varicosa
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 212835, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Varicose wart slug
- Scientific
- Phyllidia varicosa
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Sea slugs
- Maximum size
- Up to about 7 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 10 to 20 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The varicose wart slug is one of the commonest nudibranchs in the Maldives: a firm, oval slug with a black back carrying long, pale blue to grey ridges topped with yellow knobs, and yellow rhinophores. It crawls openly on the reef by day, defended by a toxic chemical it takes from the sponges it eats. Fish avoid it, and its smell is said to be strong if it is handled.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=20); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=187, 82 observers); literature records via OBIS; SeaLifeBase Maldives checklist.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Phyllidia-varicosa.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=212835
- inaturalist.org /taxa/49735
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Babosa_de_mar_(Phyllidia_varicosa),_Ambalihabe,_Madagascar,
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.