The identity of Eolis ocellata Alder & Hancock

March 2, 2005
From: Bill Rudman

Alder & Hancock (1864) described a species of aeolid, Eolis ocellata, from Waltair on the Bay of Bengal coast of what is now Andrha Pradesh State in northeastern India

PHOTOS: Eolis ocellata Alder & Hancock, 1864: Pl.33, figs 16-17.

Alder & Hancock's following short description was accompanied by the attached two colour paintings, one of the whole animal, and one of a ceras:

'Branchial papillae rather inflated for about two-thirds up, when they become suddenly contracted, and linear towards the apex, which is encircled with brown: five or six brown rings form a chain like circle round the upper part of the inflated portion, the rest of the surface is white spotted with yellow, and there is a narrow brown central gland: the papillae are set in  four clusters, the front ones the largest. Foot with the angles produced into long tentacular processes in front, rather broad and fin-like towards the tail. Length about 3/4ths of an inch.

The shape and colour of the cerata, and the tentacular anterior foot corners show that this is the same species as Eliot (1902) described from Tanzania as Dunga nodulosa. Its name therefore should be Dunga ocellata. As well as these two published records, further specimens have been reported from Tanzania (Edmunds, 1969) and in the Forum from the Red Sea [Oren Lederman message #13214], Tanzania [Bill Rudman message #13249], and New Caledonia [Bill Rudman message #13239 ], suggesting it has a wide Indo-West Pacific distribution 

  • Alder, J. & Hancock, A. (1864) Notice of a collection of nudibranchiate mollusca made in India by Walter Elliot Esq., with descriptions of several new genera and species. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 5: 113-147.
  • Eliot, C.N.E. (1902) On some nudibranchs from Zanzibar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1902(2): 62-72. (Pls.5-6)
  • Edmunds, M. (1969) Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Tanzania I. Eolidacea (Eubranchidae and Aeolidiidae). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, 38: 451-469.
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Mar 2) The identity of Eolis ocellata Alder & Hancock. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13245

Factsheet

Dunga ocellata

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