Glossodoris carlsoni
Rudman, 1986

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

DISTRIBUTION

Known only from Fiji in tropical Pacific Ocean.

PHOTO

Bega Lagoon, Yanuca Is., Fiji. 12 November 1972, 55 mm long alive. Holotype [AM C139618]. Photo B. Carlson.

The mantle is a pale orange-yellow, mottled with paler patches especially between the gills and rhinophores. There is a thick bright orange-red line right at the edge of the mantle and inside it, a broad whitish band produced by the underlying opaque ramifying mantle glands. The edge of the mantle is folded with three major folds on each side and many more secondary folds giving it a very ruffled appearance.

The rhinophore stalk is translucent with an orange-red line up the posterior midline and the whole of the club is a watery orange. The gills are simple and arranged in an arc running anteriorly around the anus. Posteriorly, at each end, the arc spirals inwards forming secondary arcs on each side. The gills are watery orange with an orange-red line along each edge. In some gills this edging is quite distinct while in others the colouring can be indistinct. The body and foot are a pale watery orange and around the edge of the foot there is a whish opaque band. When crawling the foot extends some distance behind the mantle.

  • Rudman,W.B. (1986) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: The genus Glossodoris Ehrenberg (= Casella, H. & A. Adams). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 86(2): 101-184.
Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (February 15) Glossodoris carlsoni Rudman, 1986. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/gloscarl