Filitheyo – 18.06.2021

Chromodoris Tritos Yonow – also known as Dorid Nudibranch, Tritos Sea Slug.
Opisthobranchia – Nudibranchs – Sea Slugs meaning “naked gills” are molluscs without a hard shell.
These beautiful slugs are usually brilliantly colored and this in itself can act as a deterrent against predators. Some sea slugs secrete acid from stinging cells in their tentacles while others secrete acid from cells in their mantle.
This colorful nudibranch occurs in the Maldives. Their body reaches a length of 50 mm.
In external shape and color it is very similar to Chromodoris geminus and Chromodoris kuniei. The Maldives animal could be a pale color form of either species. According to Yonow, there is a difference in their radular teeth.
Nudibranchs are slow moving, can swim or be propelled along either by muscular contraction or by millions of tiny hairs on the bottom of a fleshy ‘foot’, they have a voracious appetite and feed with a rasp like tongue. All opisthobranchs are hermaphrodites. Both individuals darts their penis toward each other to induce one to act as a male and the other as the female. The victorious one to penetrate the body wall is the dominant male.