Pleurobranchaea maculata

Grey side-gilled slug

Pleurobranchaea maculata, Port Stephens, NSW, Photo: Tom Davis

Distribution

Temperate Australasia

Description

Light grey sea slug with a network of fine brown lines over the surface, an aardvark-like head, a large oral veil and a reduced mantle skirt. It occurs abundantly in coastal bays, where it moves rapidly scouting for anemones and other soft-bodied invertebrate prey.

Information

Max Size: 10 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 10.3-19.5°C

Depth: 0-200

Habitat Generalization Index: N/A

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.

Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Not Evaluated

Occurrence: Infrequent (1.0% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Few (5 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.

Edit by: GJ Edgar. 2008. Australian Marine Life. New Holland, Sydney