Ceratosoma ingozi
Gosliner, 1996

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae

PHOTO

Millers Point, False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, 28 Feb 2004. Depth: 22m. Photo: Fiona Whitworth.

The body is high, with a continuous mantle ridge around the mantle edge, with mantle glands scattered along the edge. The gills are sparsely pinnate and often branched. The body, and mantle, ranges in colour from translucent white to a pale orange-yellow, with reddish purple spots scattered over the mantle and the sides of the body. Each spot is surrounded by a whitish ring. Gosliner describes the gills as translucent white, but in larger specimens they can also have small purplish spots. Reported to reach 55 mm in length.

This species was first reported by Gosliner [1987] as Ceratosoma sp. [no 138]. In Terry's photo the spots are much redder but in the text he talks of bluish spots. It is apparently only found in southern South Africa as he reports seeing it 'only in vicinity of Danger Point' [near Gansbaai, Western Cape, South Africa]. It looks quite similar to Ceratosoma brevicaudatum which is only found in the temperate waters of southern Australia.

Reference:
• Gosliner, T. (1987) Nudibranchs of Southern Africa.
• Gosliner, T.M. (1996) Phylogeny of Ceratosoma (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae), with descriptions of two new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 49(3): 115-126.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (January 28) Ceratosoma ingozi Gosliner, 1996. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/ceraingo

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