Unknown dorid from Western Australia

April 12, 2006
From: Mick Tait

I can't find a match for this nudibranch photographed at Rottnest Island. Your assistance with identification will be appreciated.

Locality: Rottnest Island, 20m, Western Australia, Indian Ocean, 08 April 2006, Reef. Length: 40mm.Water Temp 20 Deg C. Photographer: Mick Tait.

Thank you in advance.
Mick Tait

mick@bluesphere.com.au

Tait, M, 2006 (Apr 12) Unknown dorid from Western Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16287

Dear Mick,
I may need some more information on this, if you have it. I am pretty sure it is a species of Dendrodoris as the skin looks quite thin and translucent. The species that comes to mind is Dendrodoris elongata. It is by no means a perfect fit in colour pattern, but the ruffled edge to the mantle suggests it has a lot of 'stretch' available. Did you by chance notice the animal moving? If so, was it able to stretch out like the photos of D. elongata on the Forum?

Dendrodoris albopurpura is also a possibility, but again it stretches out and the black spots are usually on pustules and surrounded by a white ring. Another one with black spots, thin mantle and ruffled edge is D. guttata, but in that species there is an orange-brown background colour.  It is possible your animal is a new species, but it is also possible that it is one of these three species in which the backround colour is absent. My suspicion is that it is D. elongata so if you have any other background information on its movement and whether it can elongate, I would like to hear about it.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Apr 12). Comment on Unknown dorid from Western Australia by Mick Tait. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16287

Factsheet

Unidentified - Australia and New Zealand

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