Home Acknowledgments Conventions Glossary Maps References Links Articles Thumbnails Species list Family Next species _______________   Additional Photos   cerata detail   underside     side   young, 3 mm   egg mass _______________   GALLERY	Berghia major (Eliot, 1903)   Maximum size:  100 mm (Kay, 1979). Identification:  This species has densely papillate rhinophores and extensive ramifications of the digestive gland in its dorsum, foot, rhinophores and cephalic tentacles. The cerata are moderately to greatly inflated (particularly in young animals) and they usually have iridescent-blue and orange subapical bands. The body and cerata are splotched with white. The ramifications of the digestive gland distinguish it from Berghia salaamica. Natural history:  Bergia major is a  moderately rare species that appears to be largely restricted to Halimeda kanaloana beds at depths of 8-9 m (26-30 m) on Maui (although it's been recorded from the low intertidal and shallow rocky habitats on Oahu by Scott Johnson). It is probably diurnal and the extensive ramifications of its digestive gland suggest that it obtains significant nutrition from retained zooxanthellae. Gosliner (1973) reports it feeding on the sea anemones Boloceroides and Aiptasia. It lays a cream egg mass composed of a "slinky-like" ribbon. The eggs appear to hatch in about two days in the laboratory. Distribution:  Big Island, Maui and Oahu: circumtropical. Taxonomic notes:  Some authors list this species as Spurilla major. It's referred to as the "anemone-eating nudibranch" in Hoover, 1998 & 2006 although the photo is of Berghia salaamica. The photo of B. major in Bertsch and Johnson, 1981 is also of B. salaamica. It was first reported from Hawaii in Gosliner, 1979). Photo:  CP: 16 mm; Airport Beach, Maui; Oct. 4, 2008. Observations and comments: Note 1:  ( )
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