Orange-lined crowned nudibranch in Langebaan lagoon. Photo David Colyn
Orange-lined crowned nudibranch in Cape Town
Crowned nudibranch. Photos Guido Zsilavecz
The orange-lined crowned nudibranch is possibly a different species of Polycera, closely related to the crowned nudibranch Polycera capensis. They can be separated by three consistent characteristics: the presence of orange lines or spots along the body, the white gills tipped in black, and the white rhinophores tipped in black. In the crowned nudibranch the orange is missing, and the gills and rhinophores are mostly black. The black lines may or may not be present to a variable degree in both species.
It is not conclusive whether these are two different species.
For more details on this species, see "Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay" available directly from SURG or better dive and book stores in Cape Town.
Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, G Zsilavecz, 2007
Nudibranchs of Southern Africa - a guide to the opisthobranch molluscs of southern Africa, T. Gosliner, 1987