Relevant Synonyms - Misidentification -  drawing: Rüppell and Leuckart, 1830 (MNHN, Paris)

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body elongate, with the foot extending far beyond the posterior end of the notum. A prominent oral veil edged with about 15-20 branched appendages. Rest of the mantle edge with small and ramified papillae along each side of the body. There are three pairs of large knob-like protuberances at the level of the gill. Gill composed of five tripinnate branchial leaves in the middle of the dorsum. Rhinophores lamellated. color : black body with several large reddish ocellatus-like markings. common size : up to 30 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS No other species of this genus is present in the Mediterranean. A species quite similar in general aspect is Kaloplocamus ramosus (Cantraine, 1835), which however lacks the large protuberances with terminal knob. The general background body color of this Mediterranean species is yellow to orange with white spots. The pattern of black background color with large reddish spots of Plocamopherus ocellatus is present in no other Mediterranean nudibranch. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Unknown; as others species of the genus, it probably feeds on branching bryozoans and can swim by lateral flexion of the body. These species are known to give luminescent flashes when disturbed. habitat : in the Mediterranean one specimen was dredged 50 m deep; the others were found in rocky bottoms down to 20 m in depth.

1st Mediterranean record Israel, 1982 [1977]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Red Sea and Suez Canal (O'Donoghue, 1927). Mediterranean: one specimen was recorded in 1977 from Nizzanim, Israel (Barash and Danin, 1982b); another one in Turkey in 1998 (photographed by Ferda Buyukbayal; Rudman, 2002), and three specimens found in Lebanon (collected by G. Bitar and H. Zibrowius; Valdés and Templado, 2002). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Known only from five specimens in the Levantine Sea. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barash A. and Danin Z., 1982b. Mediterranean Mollusca of Israel and Sinai: composition and distribution. Israel Journal of Zoology, 31: 86-118. Barash A. and Danin Z., 1986. Further additions to the knowledge of Indo-Pacific Mollusca in the Mediterranean Sea. Spixiana, 9(2): 117-141. Rudman W.B., 2002. Plocamopherus ocellatus Rüppell and Leuckart, 1828. Available via Sea Slug Forum http://www.seaslugforum.net/plococel.htm. Australian Museum, Sydney.   Rüppell E. and Leuckart F.S., 1828-1830. Mollusca; pp.15-47, 12 pls. In: Atlas zu der Reise im nordlichen Afrika von Eduard Rüppell. Neue wirbellose Thiere des rothen Meers. Frankfurt am Main. Valdés A. and Templado J., 2002. Indo-Pacific dorid nudibranchs collected in Lebanon (Mediterranean Sea). Iberus, 20(2): 23-30. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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