Phyllodesmium briareum

Phyllodesmium briareum is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.^[1]

Phyllodesmium briareum (one specimen at the bottom of the image) looks very similar to the soft coral Briareum violaceum (at the top of the image).

Phyllodesmium briareum
Phyllodesmium briareum, head end towards the right
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Cladobranchia
Family:	Myrrhinidae
Genus:	Phyllodesmium
Species:	P. briareum
Binomial name
Phyllodesmium briareum (Bergh, 1896)
Synonyms[1]
Ennoia briareus Bergh, 1896

Distribution

The distribution of Phyllodesmium briareum includes Indo-Pacific and Australia.^[2]

Description

Phyllodesmium briareum uses camouflage and looks like the soft coral Briareum violacea with which it is often found. It grows to 25 mm in length. This species contains zooxanthellae but has cerata of conventional aeolid shape.^[3][2]

Ecology

Phyllodesmium briareum is reported to feed on a number of species of briareid soft coral including Solenopodium stelleri and Briareum stecheri (sensu MacFadyen, 1936). It is also reported from Pachyclavularia violacea.^[4][2]