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Ceratosoma amoenum, Pilot Bay,
Mt. Maunganui, 15/11/16. |
The clown nudibranch,
Ceratosoma amoenum * is instantly recognisable with it's bright orange and purple coloration. Clown nudibranchs are sea slugs in the Order: Nudibranchia. The name nudibranch means naked-gill and these gills can be seen at the back of the animal as a circlet of purple feathery tufts. At the front of the animal there are two purple antennae-like structures, called rhinophores and these are olfactory (sense of smell) organs.
Clown nudibranchs are found from temperate southern Australia to northern New Zealand. They can get up ~80mm in length and live from low water down to ~40 metres in depth.
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Ceratosoma amoenum, Pilot Bay,
Mt. Maunganui, 15/11/16. |
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Ceratosoma amoenum, Pilot Bay,
Mt. Maunganui, 15/11/16. |
There is considerable colour variation between the
New Zealand and Australian populations, with the the Australian animals having smaller orange patches and also occasionally purple dots. These colour differences are probably related to differences in food sources.
Clown nudibranchs feed on sponges and can collect (sequester) the toxins found within the sponges. They then accumulate those
toxins in their own tissues for defence.
*(Cheeseman, 1886)
More info:
https://www.niwa.co.nz/blogs/critteroftheweek/149
http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/ceraamoe
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0033479
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