A nudibranch that hunts other nudibranchs and swallows them whole.
A dorid to about 7 cm, translucent white to cream and covered over the back with small orange-red papillae, with a ring of gills set well forward of the tail rather than at the rear as in most dorids. The body is soft and the internal organs show through, which after a large meal is the most informative thing about the animal.
It is a predator of other sea slugs. It follows a mucus trail, catches up with the prey — often a species several times its own weight — and engulfs it whole through a distensible mouth, after which the outline of the swallowed animal is visible through the body wall for hours. Some species in the genus also take sea hares and bubble shells. A Gymnodoris moving quickly and in a straight line is hunting, and following it is more interesting than photographing it. Recorded from about 3 to 25 m on rubble and silt.
Older references list it as Gymnodoris rubropapulosa.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.
