Elegant nudibranch Cratena sp.1
Elegant nudibranch Cratena sp.1
Orange-eyed nudibranch Cratena capensis. Photos Guido Zsilavecz.
Gosliner collected this species from Knysna and Plettenberg bay, in shallow water. The species differs from the orange-eyed nudibranch Cratena capensis in having longer cerata and oral tentacles and rhinophores (hence the common name), a black gland near the tips of the cerata (visible as a dark band before the white tip), as well, and this is the most obvious distinction, orange rather than white rhinophores. The foot corners in this species are also elongated, and not squared off. Like the orange-eyed nudibranch, it is quite small, reaching around 25 mm only, so such details are hard to see, and are hard to see even in photos.
Two individuals were found in False Bay, one at Pie Rock, and one on the wreck of the Good Hope in Smitswinkel bay, in waters in excess of 20 m deep.
The species has also been found in southern Kwazulu-Natal, and Durban. This extends the range of this species substantially, although it is quite rare.
Nudibranchs of Southern Africa - a guide to the opisthobranch molluscs of southern Africa, T Gosliner, 1987.