Author: Undescribed

Order: Nudibranchia  Family: Tritoniidae

Maximum Size: 15 mm

Sightings: Sunshine Coast

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Tritonia sp. 05 Undescribed

At first glance this tritonid could be mistaken for a very juvenile Tritoniopsis elegans that are sighted regularly on the Sunshine Coast, however, closer examination easily dispels that first impression.

The notum is translucent white and presents with a network appearance, both coarse and fine. Small simple white-tipped tubercles are randomly scattered over the surface. Around the notal brim these are quite obvious and are regularly spaced. The secondary gills, four to five in number down each side, are mostly translucent, very broad at the base and irregularly branched. The velum is broad but velar tentacles are short and inconspicuous. The rhinophore sheath is lobed with one particularly large lobe situated laterally. The rhinophore club is sited at the end of a substantial stalk from which arise five splayed thin straight papillae surrounding a central stem that is slightly longer but truncated at its terminus (that is, without swelling, knob or taper). The tail tapers gradually to a tip.

Tritonia sp. 05 is also easily differentiated from our Tritonia sp. 04 as that species bears distinctive stringy opaque white lines down the length of the dorsum.

David A. Mullins – February 2023