Tyrannodoris luteolineata

Tyrannodoris luteolineata

"Tyrannodoris luteolineata" is a species of sea slug, a polycerid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Polyceridae.
Mating Nudis A mating pair of Nudibranch - Tyrannodoris luteolineata.  Although Nudibranch are hermaphrodite, they still needs to mate to reproduce and in some instances, they 'fight' to determine which among them will be the male or female.  The winner is the 'male' as after mating, it can moves on whereas the losing 'female' will have to find more food to produce eggs.

Personal milestone, species #4000 #JDmilestone,Mabul,Malaysia,Nudibranch,Sabah,Tyrannodoris luteolineata

Appearance

"Tyrannodoris luteolineata" is quite large in comparison to most other sea-slugs. It is black, with yellow lines running lengthwise down the body. It can be distinguished from other similar-looking nudibranchs by the light green patches on the top of the head between its rhinophores. It is a fast-moving species.

Distribution

This species was described from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. It has been reported widely in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean. It has been observed as far south as the Poor Knights Islands in New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere. This species is sometimes confused with the nudibranch "Tambja affinis" due to its outwardly similar appearance.Rudman, W.B., 1999 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

Habitat

"Tyrannodoris luteolineata", like other species in the genus "Tyrannodoris", feeds on other nudibranchs, actively hunting them out. The species seems to generally feed only on nudibranchs from the family Polyceridae and has been observed eating "Tambja morosa", "Tambja verconis" and "Nembrotha kubaryana". It is also cannibalistic and will eat smaller individuals of its own species.Rudman, W.B., 2007. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderNudibranchia
FamilyPolyceridae
GenusTyrannodoris
SpeciesT. luteolineata
Photographed in
Malaysia