These animals have characteristics of Phyllidia elegans, although they do not well match most other published figures of that species or specimens we have seen in the Philippines, Sulawesi, and Bali. Our specimens are characterized by pinkish warts, the larger of which tend to be yellow or orange capped. This species is uncommon but occasionally seen at Enewetak and Kwajalein Atolls, where it lives on lagoon pinnacles and on the seaward slope. One specimen has also been seen at Utirik Atoll, and John and Lynette Flynn figure an extraordinarily pink individual from Rongelap. The slugs tend to live in ledges and under dead coral at depths of 6 to 15 meters. Seven measured specimens ranged from 16 to 34mm in length, but larger ones have been seen.
Phyllidia cf elegans has a black line running down the bottom of its foot.
This smaller specimen was on a Kwajalein Atoll seaward reef on 21 August 2010.
The specimen below was on a Kwajalein Atoll lagoon pinnacle on 21 November 2010. The upper shot is from a Nikon digital SLR, while the lower two were from a Sony high def video camera in still photo mode.
Below is a specimen from Majuro from Ken Cone and Beth Van Zummeren.
Created 25 December 2006
Updated 16 February 2022