Ischia Flabelline

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

White punctuates the back and head of Ischia’s flabellina (Flabellina ischitana). It tips the cerata, the long orange to red back projections, as well as the rhinophores, the two upright, ringed head projections.

The elongated body is often mauve or violet, sometimes very pale and translucent. Unlike the pink flabellina, its cerata have no opaque violet ring below their white tips.

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

It occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, mainly on rocky seabeds rich in hydroids. It is found on walls, in coralligenous areas and on substrates colonised by hydroids, generally between a few metres and around forty metres deep.

WHAT DOES IT EAT?

The Ischia flabellina feeds on hydroid polyps, small tentacled animals living in colonies on branching stems. It moves slowly over these colonies and removes the polyps with its radula, a ribbon of minute teeth inside its mouth. Branching hydroids are a documented food source for this species. While feeding, its head remains in contact with the stems to which the polyps are attached.