No photo available
Blue dragon
Pteraeolidia semperi
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 764917, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Blue dragon
- Scientific
- Pteraeolidia semperi
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Sea slugs
- Maximum size
- Up to about 15 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic)
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The blue dragon is a long, slender aeolid nudibranch covered in clusters of finger-like cerata that range from blue-violet to brown. It keeps symbiotic algae taken from the corals and hydroids it eats, and these help it to feed on sunlight. It is common on reefs and can reach 10 cm or more.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=4); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=66, 27 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Pteraeolidia-semperi.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=764917
- inaturalist.org /taxa/469568
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:62709Tioman_-_34_Pteraeolidia_ianthina_M_(3688484889).jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.