Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area, California

Compiled & photographed by Gary McDonald, Long Marine Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz
Diaphorodoris lirulatocauda Millen, 1985               
Ridge-tailed Dorid
Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Nudibranchia: Doridina: Anadoridoidea: Onchidorididae
Geographic Range: Clover Island, Ketchikan, AK, to Cabo Colnett, Baja California, Mexico. Synonyms:
Back to: Doridina Back to: Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area
Diaphorodoris_lirulatocauda_0006
Pigeon Pt., San Mateo Co., CA; 26 Oct 2007; ~11mm total length.

Description: Ground color white to creamy-white, mature animals maybe darker mid-dorsally due to creamy gonads below; dorsum and dorsal surface of tail may bear small flecks of opaque white. Dorsum thickly set with numerous long, slender, white to yellowish-white papillae which give animal a fuzzy appearance. Rhinophores yellowish-white, with 6-10 lamellae. Branchial plumes 4-9, unipinnate, yellowish-white.
Size: Usually 10mm or less in length.
Notes: Feeds on the bryozoans Nolella stipata & Tubulipora sp.
Diaphorodoris_lirulatocauda_0009
Pigeon Pt., San Mateo Co., CA; 26 Oct 2007; ~9mm total length.		 Diaphorodoris_lirulatocauda_slide_002
Scott Cr., Santa Cruz Co., CA; June 1977; 11mm total length.

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