Flabellina & Samia

Flabellina and Samia are the two main genera in the Flabellinidae.
Flabellina speicies are brightly coloured. It's primarily a temporate genus, but a number of species are commonly seen on the reefs of SE Asia.
Samia species used to be included in Flabellina, but differences in the rhinophores were sufficiently large to justify creating this genus.





Fionidae - Eubranchus

Eubranchus are characterised by their swollen cerata, which in some species are transparent, so that the branched digestive gland can be seen.






Fionidae - Tenellia

The cerata here are generally arranged in more or less distinct rows.















Facelinidae

Facelina, Caloria, Favorinus, Noumeaella, Sakuraeolis, Cratena and the Dragon Nudibranch (Ptereolidia semperi) all belong here.
The genus Phyllodesmium is treated on its on due the great diversity of species.















Phyllodesmium

The Solar-Powered Nudibranch (P. longicirrum) is the best known species. Growing to over 20cm long in West Papua and around Ambon, it probably gets much of it's nutrition from its symbiotic algae, in addition to feeding on the soft coral Sarcophyton.
A number of species are very cryptic. When P. rudmani is feeding in a colony of Xenia or P. briarium is between the polyps of Pachyclavularia viridis, they are extremely difficult to detect.























Aeolidiidae

These are mostly sea anenome feeders.
Cereberilla are fast movers, making photographing small species interesting.




