Chromodoris vibrata? from Tuamotu, Society Ids
June 16, 2006
From: Gustav Paulay
Dear Bill
Do you know what this Chromodoris is? It is fairly common in the Tuamotu and Society Islands, out during the day.
Locality: Tikehau Atoll, 1-3m, French Polynesia, Pacific, 8 October 2001, under wharf at night. Length: 2-3 cm. Photographer: Gustav Paulay.
Cheers,
Gustav
paulay@flmnh.ufl.edu
Paulay, G., 2006 (Jun 16) Chromodoris vibrata? from Tuamotu, Society Ids. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16879Dear Gustav,
This is a nice continuation of Erwin Koehler's recent message [#16794]. Your animal looks like another form of one variable species, which I suspect may be Chromodoris vibrata. There are a number of special characters that C. vibrata possesses. It would be interesting to know if this French Polynesian animal also has them.
For example would you recall if it wiggles its gills rhythmically? This is the reason the species is called 'vibrata'. From the Forum, I am pretty sure C. vibrata feeds on the deep reddish purple sponge Chelonaplysilla violacea. Perhaps if you have many photos of this species you could check for the presence of such a sponge, which usually forms an encrusting layer over hard surfaces. Finally, if we are lucky you may have a photo of the underside of the anterior part of the mantle skirt. It would be nice to know if in the French Polynesian animal, there is a deep purple patch on the underside of the anterior mantle skirt.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
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Re: Chromodoris vibrata? from Tuamotu, Society Ids
From: Gustav Paulay, June 20, 2006 -
Unidentified chromodorids from French Polynesia
From: Erwin Koehler, June 10, 2006
