Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Striped phyllidiopsis
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Photo: Bernard Picton / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (view on Wikimedia Commons)

Striped phyllidiopsis

Phyllidiopsis xishaensis

Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 599830, checked 2026-10-31).

English
Striped phyllidiopsis
Scientific
Phyllidiopsis xishaensis
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Sea slugs
Family
Phyllidiidae (phyllidiid nudibranchs)
Depth and habitat
Sea floor (benthic)
IUCN status
NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)

Description

A phyllidiid nudibranch: a firm, oval slug with a tough, knobbly back and its gills hidden underneath. Phyllidiids feed on sponges and carry distasteful chemicals taken from them, so they crawl openly by day. Several species look alike and are told apart by the pattern of ridges, knobs and colour.

In the Maldives

Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=8); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=27, 11 observers); literature records via OBIS.

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.