Author: Austin, Gosliner & Malaquias, 2018

Order: Cephalaspidea  Family: Haminoeidae

Maximum Size: 20 mm

Sightings: Sunshine Coast

Name change: Austin J., Gosliner T. & Malaquias M.A.E. (2018). Systematic revision, diversity patterns and trophic ecology of the tropical Indo-West Pacific sea slug genus Phanerophthalmus A. Adams, 1850 (Cephalaspidea, Haminoeidae). Invertebrate Systematics. 32(6): 1336-1387.

This species was previously listed by us as Phanerophthalmus sp. 01.

Note on name: Given overlap of known distribution and similarity of external appearance this species could just as easily be called Phanerophthalmus purpura. The above paper states: “Because of the morphological resemblance between P. anettae and its sister species P. purpura, discrimination is nearly impossible, nevertheless molecular analyses support their distinctiveness.”