Phyllodesmium rudmani

Phyllodesmium rudmani is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.

Phyllodesmium rudmani
detail of cerata of Phyllodesmium rudmani
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Cladobranchia
Family:	Myrrhinidae
Genus:	Phyllodesmium
Species:	P. rudmani
Binomial name
Phyllodesmium rudmani Burghardt & Gosliner, 2006[1]

The specific name rudmani is in honor of malacologist William B. Rudman.

Distribution

The distribution of Phyllodesmium rudmani includes North Sulawesi, Indonesia and Luzon, the Philippines.^[1]

Description

The length of the slug is up to 45 mm. Its cerata are similar to (mimicry) closed polyps of soft coral of the genus Xenia.^[2]

soft coral Xenia sp.

Phyllodesmium rudmani contain endosymbiotic zooxanthellae of the genus Symbiodinium.^[1]