Phyllodesmium briareum is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.Bouchet, P. 2015. Phyllodesmium briareum. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-06
Distribution The distribution of Phyllodesmium briareum includes Indo-Pacific and Australia.Rudman, W.B., 1999 (November 25) Phyllodesmium briareum (Bergh, 1896). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
Description Phyllodesmium briareum uses camouflage and looks like the soft coral Briareum violacea with which it is often found. It grows to 25 mm in length. This species contains zooxanthellae but has cerata of conventional aeolid shape.Rudman, W. B. 1981. The anatomy and biology of alcyonarian-feeding aeolid opisthobranch mollusks and their development of symbiosis with zooxanthellae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 72:219–262.
Ecology Phyllodesmium briareum is reported to feed on a number of species of briareid soft coral including Solenopodium stelleri and Briareum stecheri (sensu MacFadyen, 1936). It is also reported from Pachyclavularia violacea.Rudman W.B. 1991. Further studies on the taxonomy and biology of the octocoral-feeding genus Phyllodesmium Ehrenberg, 1831 (Nudibranchia: Aeolidoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies 57: 167-203
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