Marine Life / Headshield Slugs
Tubulophilinopsis lineolata
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Mollusca
- Class
- Gastropoda
- Order
- Cephalaspidea
- Family
- Aglajidae
- Genus
- Tubulophilinopsis
- Species
- Tubulophilinopsis lineolata
Tubulophilinopsis lineolata is a headshield slug in the family Aglajidae. Headshield slugs are not nudibranchs; they have a broad shield on the head that helps them plough through sand.
It is dark, almost black, with fine white lines running along the body. The smooth body has no rhinophores or cerata, which is typical of aglajids.
Aglajids are active predators that hunt other sea slugs, following them by their mucus trails.
In the Philippines look for it on sandy and silty bottoms, where it often moves quickly or half buries itself. Keep your fins off the sand so you do not stir up silt, and shoot low to show the white lines.
It appears on page 287 of Nudibranchs of the Philippines.