Variable Wart Slug

Phyllidia varicosa

Nudibranchs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth4–22 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and April
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Steve Childs, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Phyllidia varicosa is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Phyllidiidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Phyllidia varicosa”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 311 records
February: 404 records
March: 456 records
April: 433 records
May: 401 records
June: 342 records
July: 376 records
August: 400 records
September: 400 records
October: 368 records
November: 371 records
December: 394 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–22 m · Deepest record: 61 m

0–10 m: 47 records
10–20 m: 115 records
20–30 m: 16 records
30–40 m: 6 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 7 records
22–24 °C: 7 records
24–26 °C: 14 records
26–28 °C: 24 records
28–30 °C: 107 records

Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by portioid · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Variable Wart Slug, Varicose Wart Slug

Names in 5 more languages

German: Variable Warzenschnecke, Warzenschnecke
French: Phyllidie verruqueuse
Japanese: タテヒダイボウミウシ
Korean: 노랑혹갯민숭달팽이
Simplified Chinese: 腫紋葉海牛, 腫紋葉海蛞蝓, 葉海蛞蝓, 葉海麒麟

Other scientific names: Phyllidia arabica, Phyllidia borbonica, Phyllidia fasciolata, Phyllidia honloni, Phyllidia quinquelineata, Phyllidia trilineata

Similar species

Heavenly Wart Slug
Phyllidia coelestis
Elegant Phyllidia
Phyllidia elegans
Ocellated Wart Slug
Phyllidia ocellata
Black-rayed phyllidia
Phyllidia picta
Baba's Phyllidia
Phyllidia babai
Yellow-edged Wart Slug
Phyllidia exquisita

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,322 open-data records from 1801 to 2026.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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