aeolid nudibranch Notaeolidia gigas

Notaeolidia gigas has been recorded in Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, and South Orkney Islands at depths from 3 to 50 meters [1,2,3]. N. gigas can be up to eight centimeters long and has at least three rows of cerata numbering at least two hundred on each side [2,4]. The largest cerata (9-10 millimeters long) are located in the inner rows [4].



An orange colored digestive gland is visible through the body wall of Notaeolidia gigas [2]. The body of N. gigas is translucent to milky or opaque white [1,2,4].



Notaeolidia gigas has white pigment on cerata tips, rhinophores and the oral tentacles [1]. These are probably mating.

N. gigas has been observed feeding on large hydroids, including Tubularia sp. [3]. N. gigas is also a predator of the stoloniferan soft coral Clavularia frankliniana [5,6,7].



Eggs of Notaeolidia gigas.

The genus Notaeolidia is known only from Antarctica [1].

Taxonomic Note: N. subgigas (Wagele, 1988) and N. purpurea were synonymized under N. gigas [1].

1: Zoologica Scripta 19(3):309-330, 1990; 2: Journal of Molluscan Studies 61:209-213, 1995; 3: Journal of Molluscan Studies 62(3):281-287, 1996; 4: Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique / Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Biologie 66:29-40, 1996; 5: Ecological Monographs 44(1):105-128, 1974; 6: Antarctic Ecology, Volume 1. MW Holdgate, ed. NY: Academic Press, 1970. pp.244-258; 7: Marine Biology 122(3):461-470, 1995

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