Tritonia flemingi
(Powell, 1937)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Tritoniidae

DISTRIBUTION

North Island of New Zealand

PHOTO

Poor Knights Islands, NE New Zealand, 9 December, 2001, approx 5m deep. Approx 10mm. Photo: Gareth Jones.

Powell illustrates this as having a green background colour but Willan & Morton (1984) describe it as a:
'sooty black slug ... with about 8 greyish tufts arising fromn the keeled notal margin. .. rhinophoral sheaths are large simple-margined and cup the orange-red, highly subdivided rhinophoral clavi. Back and sides bear low, whitish pustules. Oral veil bilobed, and not fimbriated as in other Tritonia species.'

It grows to about 12mm, and is found from the intertidal to 12m throughout the North Island of New Zealand. It is appears to be uncommon and nothing is known of its biology.

References:
• Powell, A. W. B. (1937). New species of nudibranchiate mollusca from Auckland waters. Records of the Auckland Museum & Institute, 2(2): 119-124, pl. 30.
• Willan, R. C. & Morton, J. E. (1984) Marine Molluscs. Part 2. Opisthobranchia. Leigh Marine Laboratory, University of Auckland, New Zealand. 106pp.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (December 12) Tritonia flemingi (Powell, 1937). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/tritflem

Related messages

  1. Tritonia flemingi from Poor Knights Islands, N.Z.
    From: Ian Skipworth, June 13, 2006
  2. Tritonia flemingi from New Zealand
    From: Gareth Jones, December 14, 2001

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