Atagema rugosa from South Africa ?
February 17, 2006
From: Andrew Taylor
Hi Bill
Found this one at a dive site called Coral Gardens on the Atlantic seaboard off Cape Town . In Terrence Gosliner's book , Nudibranchs of Southern Africa it is referred to as Atagema rugosa but I couldn't find it in your database unless it has been re classified . Apparently described by Pruvot-Fol,1951 .
Locality: Cape Town, 15m, Western Cape, Sth Africa, Atlantic, 28 January 2006, Reef with hard and soft corals. Length: 25 mm. Photographer: Andrew Taylor
Hope this is of some use to you , and if I got the ID wrong you can help .
Thanks,
Andrew
andytuwphoto@gmail.com
Taylor, A.D., 2006 (Feb 17) Atagema rugosa from South Africa ?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15829
Dear Andrew,
This certainly looks ike the animal Terry identified as Atagema rugosa. There was no Fact Sheet for the species on the Forum because before now we had no record of the species on the Forum. After a quick look in the literature to find what is known about A. rugosa is very little. It was described from a single specimen for the mediterranean coast of France, and apart from a later record from southern Italy I can't find anything about it.
I often wonder why sponge-feeding dorids are often found on large algae, like your animal. I guess they have taken a wrong turning.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
