TERGIPEDIDAE, Bergh, 1889

Mead, A., Carlton, J. T., Griffiths, C. L. & Rius, M., 2011, Introduced and cryptogenic marine and estuarine species of South Africa, Journal of Natural History 45 (39 - 40), pp. 2463-2524 : 2494

Family TERGIPEDIDAE

Catriona columbiana O’Donoghue, 1922 Introduced

This North Pacific nudibranch, identified by its pink to creamy cerata, feeds on hydroids of the genus Tubularia (sensu lato) ( Gosliner 1987). It was first collected on pilings in Cape Town Docks in 1972, where it was found on the introduced ascidian Ciona intestinalis ( Gosliner and Griffiths 1981) . We recognize that this is a variable species with many synonyms ( McDonald 2007). In South Africa it has only been recorded in Cape Town Docks so we concur with Gosliner (1987) that it represents an introduction, likely to have arrived in South Africa through ship fouling and ballast water.