Chromodoris fidelis from Thailand

March 24, 2007
From: Paul Osmond

Hi Bill,
I believe this is a slightly different pattern for a Chromodoris fidelis where some of the mantle colors have actually joined and separated the mid body white areas. Is this correct?

Images were taken on the reef surrounding Racha Yai off of Phuket, Thailand.

Locality: Racha Yai Island, 25m, Phuket, Thailand, 13 March 2006, Fringing Reef Wall. Length: 20mm. Photographer: Paul T. Osmond.

Yours,
Paul
www.deepseaimages.com

marriard@deepseaimages.com

Osmond, P.T., 2007 (Mar 24) Chromodoris fidelis from Thailand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19700

Dear Paul,
Yes I would consider this to be part of the colour variation of C. fidelis. In fact there is a 'form' in eastern Australia in which the red 'tongues' on each side have broken off to form red spots. My hypothesis is that this is a special case of mimicry to match the other red-spotted chromodorids found in south eastern Australia.

I have added a couple of close-ups from your photos which show another interesting feature. Most of you will be aware of the mantle glands chromodorids have around the edge of their mantle. They contain defensive chemicals from the sponges they feed on. In the photo alongside of the head of the animal you can see these glands as little whitish spheres around the mantle edge. Some species also have these glands in their gills as well, and as you can see here, C. fidelis  is one species that does.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Mar 24). Comment on Chromodoris fidelis from Thailand by Paul Osmond. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19700

Factsheet

Chromodoris fidelis

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