Dendrodoris citrina
(Cheeseman, 1881)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Dendrodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Found throughout New Zealand. Essentially an intertidal species but can also be found sublittorally down to a few metres.

PHOTO

UPPER RIGHT: Auckland, New Zealand, December 1986 (25mm long) PHOTO: Bill Rudman.
LOWER RIGHT: Enlargement of upper photo to show characteristic pattern of white specks (glands?) all over mantle.
LOWER LEFT: Poor Knights Islands, northeastern New Zealand, sublittoral. PHOTO: Ross Armstrong.

This is one of the most common intertidal nudibranchs in New Zealand and is found in a wide variety of habitats. It ranges in colour from bright yellow, reddish brown, orange and even translucent white. Small white mantle glands appear as tiny white specks all over the mantle. Grows to about 70mm long.

Compare with D. carneola, D. aurea, and D. miniata.

Reference:
• Cheeseman, T.F. (1881) On some new species of Nudibranchiate Mollusca. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 8: 222-224.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (December 13) Dendrodoris citrina (Cheeseman, 1881). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/dendcitr

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