Bornella sp. e486

This unidentified Bornella is similar in external appearance to the other Marshall Islands Bornella, but differs in details of coloration and anatomy. The external color consists of a red network and white spots over the translucent skin while Bornella sp. e299 and B. sp. e312 are both light orange with aggregations of white specks. From the outside, the alimentary canal mostly appears black, in part from the color of whatever it has been eating but the anterior end of which is actually an aggregation of numerous large black spines lining the canal. In Bornella sp. e299, the spines are smaller and yellow-brown in color. Also, the radulae differ between the two. In B. sp. e299, the denticles on the central tooth are very small and in Bornella stellifer, they are quite large. In B. sp. e486, the denticles are intermediate in size between the other two. Bornella sp. e486 seems to live almost exclusively on the leeward seaward reef, where it lives in ledges and small caves and is active at night.

The closeup below shows the posterior papilla on the rhinophore sheath, which is only about as tall or a bit smaller than the rhonphore itself.

Created 28 May 2007