Noumea flava?

[Quero]

On a dive at Shark Point (Phuket) a couple of days ago I found this tiny little nudi I've never seen before. It was at about 15 m and the critter itself must only have been about 15 mm (compare with the urchin to get an idea of size).

A thorough search of my two nudi books resulted in no matches at all in one (Debelius) and one similar-looking match in the other (Coleman)--Noumea flava. The online photos I've seen do seem to indicate N. flava, but with one distinctly curious difference: my nudi has an obvious green patch amidst the yellow.

What say all of you nudi pundits?

Hmm. Okay, no uploads possible right now on SB, but here's an external link: http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noumeaflava311mb4.jpg

 

[LeslieH]

It does look like a very good match. Without a close up it's hard to know if the green patch on yours is external pigmentation, an internal organ showing through the body, or a parasite.
http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=noumflav

 

[Quero]

Thanks, Leslie for the ideas on the green coloration. I had thought of an organ, but the possibility of a parasite is one that hadn't occurred to me. I refer frequently to the information at Sea Slug Forum, but have never had an opportunity to contribute; maybe it would be a good idea to submit this sighting, since there don't seem to be reports of N. flava in Thailand as yet.

Here's a closer look, if you would like to speculate further about the green coloration (SB still doen't have upload capabilities):

http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=noumeaflavaclose2lt9.jpg

 

[LeslieH]

Still can't see enough detail of the green patch, sorry. Do send it to Bill - he always wants photo evidence of new locality records and variations/abnormalities.