Eubranchus pallidus (Alder & Hancock, 1842)

Description: The body and ceratal surfaces are pigmented with white and brown-red patches and there are yellow bands towards the tips of the cerata. The rhinophores and oral tentacles have a band of brown pigment and white pigment spots becoming dense at the tips. Alder & Hancock had a very pale individual as their type specimen, hence the somewhat inappropriate specific name; they later wanted to change the name to picta (painted)! Adults may reach 23mm in length.

Habitat: The adults may feed on the hydroid Tubularia, however juveniles usually take smaller calyptoblastic hydroids such as Obelia dichotoma, which often grows on Tubularia, and Halecium species.

Distribution: It is distributed all round the British Isles, America, Iceland and From Norway to the Mediterranean.

Key Identification Features:

• Swollen cerata with yellow or white bands of pigment at the tip.
• Brown and yellow-white pigment spots on body and cerata.

Distribution Map from BioMar data for Ireland - Google Earth map:  download this placemark (not got Google Earth installed?)

Distribution Map from NBN: JNCC MNCR data - Grid map National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.