Hexabranchus morsomus, also known as the Caribbean Spanish Dancer, is a species of sea slug, a marine mollusc in the family Hexabranchidae.PNAS, Nudibranch Taxonomy, accessed 1 January 2014.Gofas, S. (2013). Hexabranchus morsomus Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1962. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=549228 on 2014-01-01
Distribution It occurs in the Caribbean Sea including waters around St. Kitts and the Netherlands Antilles,Rudman W. B. (2002, September 8) "Hexabranchus morsomus Marcus, 1962". Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney, accessed 22 October 2016. and has also been identified in Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago,Valdés, Ángel; Hamann, Jeff; Behrens, David W.; DuPont, Anne. Caribbean Sea Slugs, Sea Challengers Natural History Books, Etc., Gig Harbor, Washington 2006, pp. 116-117. Aruba, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten.
Description Body is oval to elongate. Dorsum is small with conical tubercles. Rhinophores are club shaped. Gill is large, composed of several multi-pinnated leaves. Background color is reddish with mottled white and yellow patches on the dorsum. Mantle margin usually curled up over small portion of dorsum covering white areas. It is up to 400 mm long.
Ecology It is found under rocks or coral rubble, primarily on living reefs. Minimum recorded depth is 0 m. Maximum recorded depth is 33 m.Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776. Defensive behavior consists of the unrolling of the mantle margins to expose bright white areas followed by swimming by contracting the body and mantle margin. Species of the genus Hexabranchus prey on a variety of sponges.
Further reading Valdés Á. (2002) "How many species of Hexabranchus (Opisthobranchia : Dorididae) are there?" Molluscan Research 22(3): 289–301. PDF.
References This article incorporates Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0) text from the referenceGoodheart J. A., Ellingson R. A., Vital X. G., Galvão Filho H. C., McCarthy J. B., Medrano S. M., Bhave V. J., García-Méndez K., Jiménez L. M., López G. & Hoover C. A. (2016). "Identification guide to the heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bocas del Toro, Panama". Marine Biodiversity Records 9(1), p.56.
External links Hexabranchus morsomus at nudipixel