Black-margined Doriprismatica

The blackmargined doriprismatica is a shallow-water sea slug whose creamy white to pale brown body is trimmed with a thin, wavy black line around its ruffled mantle.

It lives singly or in pairs, amongst rubble and sandy areas, of coral and rocky reefs.

The body can also be lemon yellow, but the black trim makes it easy to pick out. Black also marks the rims of the rhinophore pockets, the rhinophore tips and the edges of the gills. As it crawls along, the gill plumes often sway back and forth in a steady rhythm.

Sponges are its main food, including Hyatella intestinalis. It holds on to chemical compounds from the sponges it eats and puts them to use in its own defence.

Like other nudibranchs it is a mollusc with no hard shell, and it is a slow mover, gliding on a fleshy foot and feeding with a rasp-like tongue. Colours like these can act as a warning to predators.