Noumea flava

Noumea flava
A pair of Noumea flava, Philippines
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Nudipleura clade Nudibranchia clade Euctenidiacea clade Doridacea
Superfamily:	Doridoidea
Family:	Chromodorididae
Genus:	Noumea
Species:	N. flava
Binomial name
Noumea flava Rudman, 1986

Noumea flava is a species of colorful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.^[1]

Distribution

This nudibranch was originally described from East Africa, but it has an Indo-West Pacific distribution.^[2]

Description

This species is usually less than 2 inches in length. It has a yellow body with an identifying red mantle margin which has two semi-permanent mantle folds about mid-body. The rhinophores and branchia (gills) are yellow. Identifying individual yellow sea slugs within the genus Noumea can be challenging because yellow forms exist in several related species.

Ecology

This species is often found on the yellow sponge Hyrtios, which appears to be its preferred food source.^[3]

References

1. ^ WoRMS, World Register of Marine Species
2. ^ Noumea flava, Sea Slug Forum.
3. ^ Noumea flava food source, Sea Slugs of Hawaii.

Further reading

External links

• Noumea flava on Sea Slug Forum
• Noumea flava on Nudipixel