Baeolidia chaka


Baeolidia chaka, is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aeolidiidae.

Distribution

This species was described from two specimens collected in the intertidal zone at Jesser Point, Sodwana Bay National Park, Natal, South Africa.

Description

The body of Baeolidia chaka is translucent white with a dense pattern of opaque white pigment over much of the surface. The head and the bases of the rhinophores and oral tentacles are covered with chocolate-brown pigment. Brown pigment is also present at the bases of the cerata and more diffusely on the dorsal portion of the foot. The digestive gland within the cerata is rusty brown. The cerata are ornamented with opaque white pigment, which is densest on their anterior sides and on irregular tubercles on the surfaces. The tips of the cerata are opaque white with a thin sub-apical band of chocolate brown and a wider band of opaque white.