Spurilla braziliana, Brazilian Aeolid
The Spurilla braziliana is a rare find for a snorkeler or tidepooler on Maui, even though they are known to prefer shallow rocky habitats. When I first came across this rather large aeolid (approximately 30 mm or over an inch), I assumed it was ai, which is much more common. Its rhinophores, however, were perfoliate and its cerata lacked the usual orange or blue band of the B. moebii. It didn’t fit the description of a Baeolidea salaamica either. The prominent digestive glands pretty much eliminated the latter. So a closer look at a Spurilla braziliana will reveal prominent white cnidosacs at the top of the cerata, a prominent foot and white tips on the rhinophores as well as white spots on their notum and cerata. For more images of brightly coloured S. braziliana see Sea Slugs of Hawaii. There are orange, deep greens and clear, almost transluscent versions of this species found in Hawaii.