Re: Hypselodoris rudmani from sthn Queensland?

Dear Colin,

I'm glad you are beginning to have heretical thoughts. I have been having similar thoughts myself which leads me to the conclusion that Hypselodoris sagamiensis and Hypselodoris rudmani might just be the geographical extremes of one species. In the original description of H. rudmani there is no mention of a yellow submarginal band down each side of the mantle and I can see none in the accompanying photo which looks very similar to Valda Fraser's photo [#1630]. However your animal [#17554] definitely has a row of submarginal yellow spots which links it to the western Pacific H. sagamiensis.

I can't say I really want to suggest H. rudmani may be just a junior synonym of H. sagamiensis but its a good example of the value of accumulating more records of all these species. I guess we are going to have to rely on you and any of your colleagues in South Africa to find and photograph some more specimens so we can see just what its colour range is in the southwestern Indian Ocean. It would also be interesting to get a photo of its egg ribbon. Nishina Masayoshi has given us an excellent photo [#7720] of the egg ribbon of H. sagamiensis and the relatively large eggs and wavy edge to the egg ribbon are quite unusual. If your South African animal has a similar egg ribbon I would be pretty convinced the two are but one species.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman