Dendrodoris albopurpura from Hawaii
December 6, 2003
From: Tina Owens
Note: this is part of Tina Owen's message about D. carbunculosa. I have copied this section concerning D. albopurpura so there is a cross reference.
Dear Dr. Rudman:
I live and dive on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. ...... last Sunday [November 2003] I found this creature [lower photo] which has really confused me. It was about 750mm long, found in 7m of water at a completely different dive site.
My friends thought it was a juvenile D. tuberculosa, since several of them have been found recently at that dive site However, I thought back to a message that D. Lundholm sent you (June 6, 2003) about a nudi that Sharon Williams found on the Kona Coast of Hawaii. You identified that animal as a juvenile D. carbunculosa. I think my mystery nudi could be a sub adult of that species because of the white spots with bumps on its back. The mantle edges seem to already be turning into the lumpy adult form.
The reason why I was confused is that, as far as I know, no one has ever found an adult D. carbunculosa in this area, yet S. Williams found a juvenile, and this may well be a juvenile, too. ....
Tina Owens
bob-tinaowens@hawaii.rr.com
Owens, T., 2003 (Dec 6) Dendrodoris albopurpura from Hawaii. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11624Dear Tina,
The animal in this photo is definitely Dendrodoris albopurpura which is definitely a new record for Hawaii. It is much more elongate than D. carbunculosa and the body is much softer, the mantle much thinner, and definitely not stiff and rigid to touch.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
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