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| sea slugs text index | photo index |
| Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > sea slugs > Order Sacoglossa |
| Bushy
slug Polybranchia orientalis Family Caliphyllidae updated Aug 10 Where seen? This slug looks just like a bit of boring seaweed, so it's often overlooked unless you know what to look for. It is sometimes seen on our Northern shores moving among seaweeds at night. This slug was previously called Phyllobranchus or Phyllobranchillus orientalis. Features: 4-5cm. Body with a lot of large leaf-like extensions (called cerata). So it does appear like a tiny bush. The cerata contain fine branching digestive glands. The cerata drop off easily when the animal is handled, and tend to stick to the hand. New cerata grow back in a few days. In addition, a distasteful milky secretion is produced by glands on the edges of the cerata. It has a pair of tentacles (called rhinophores) which is usually hidden by the cerata. What does it eat? Like other sap-sucking slugs, it eats seaweeds. It is believed that the colour of the animal varies with the colour of the seaweed that it last ate. Thus, they may be green, brown or red. On Cyrene Reef, several individuals were seen nestled in a large clump of Caulerpa racemosa. |
 Chek Jawa, Jun 05  Rhinophores. |
 Cyrene Reef, Jul 11 |
 Cerata drop off easily. |
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Bushy slugs on Singapore shores
 In low water, the internal parts can be seen. Changi, May 11 |
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 Mating? Chek Jawa, Aug 05 |
 Chek Jawa, Jul 05 |
 Pulau Sekudu, Apr 06 |
 Changi, Jul 09 |
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 Beting Bronok, Jun 06 |
 Beting Bronok, Jun 10 |
 Pulau Sekudu, Aug 05 |
 Cyrene Reef, Jul 11 
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 Cyrene Reef, Jul 11 
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 Cyrene Reef, Jul 11 
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Links
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IKAN-Unterwasserachiv, Frankfurt. 321 pp.
. IKAN-Unterwasserachiv. 723pp.|
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