Plakobranchus sp. e945 is common in some areas in the Marshalls, and has been found in good numbers at Enewetak and Kwajalein Atolls. It is most commonly found intertidally, in reef quarries, and on shallow lagoon reefs and pinnacles. It is similar to Plakobranchus sp. e944, differing primarily in its smaler orange spots on the parapodia and head that are not connected by a network of tiny dots and it has a series of small blue ocelli roughly in a line along each side. It and other Plakobranchus species are the preferred food item for the carnivorous nudibranch Gymnodoris striata. Like a number of other sacoglossans, it harvests chloroplasts from the plant cells it eats and stores them under its parapodia, two flaps that cover its back and meet in the middle. John and Lynette Flynn have also found it at Rongelap.
Created 8 November 2021