Hypselodoris saintvincentius or H. infucata

July 13, 2007
From: Brad Cox

Bill
I have noticed with interest the discussions on the Hypselodoris saintvincentius. I originally believed this animal to be H. infucata. Is this Hypselodoris saintvincentius or H. infucata?

I have also noted in message #14263 that you indicate that H. saintvincentius is only known known only from South Australia and southwestern Western Australia which has confused me a little as Carnarvon is not in the southwest but further north.

Locality: One Mile Jetty Carnarvon , 6-7 meters, Western Australia , Indian Ocean , 3 February , Muddy sandy Bottom. Length: 20-30mm. Photographer: Brad Cox .

Brad Cox

outbackcoastdive@westnet.com.au

Cox, B., 2007 (Jul 13) Hypselodoris saintvincentius or H. infucata. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20117

Dear Brad,

I am afraid identifying species is not always 'black & white'. Hypselodoris infucata is a widespread species in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. In southeastern Australia a very similarly coloured species, H. obscura, has been described and from South Australia a third species, H. saintvincentius, has been recognised which has also been found in the southwestern part of Western Australia. Although I can confidently recognise animals from Sydney Harbour as H. obscura, and those from South Australia as H. saintvincentius, I'm afraid that as we move up the east and west coasts of Australia I find it very difficult to determine where these southern species are replaced by the tropical H. infucata. Johnson & Valdes (2001) suggest they are different but every time I see animals like yours I wonder if we really know what's going on. One character I thought was a good indicator of H. saintvincentius was how the red edging to the gills in that species branched out along the edges of the individual gill leaflets, while in H. infucata the red edging was unbranched, but as message #9221 shows, even tropical animals can have this feature. I think I would identify your animal as H. infucata, mainly because of where you found it. It is definitely not in temperate waters, which seems to be the main defining difference in these species. If H. saintvincentius does occur that far north then it seems to me the premise on which these two southern species is justified will be very hard to sustain.

  • Johnson, R. F. and Valdés, A. (2001) The Hypselodoris infucata, H. obscura and H. saintvincentius species complex (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae), with remarks on the genus Brachyclanis Ehrenberg, 1831. Journal of Natural History 35: 1371-1398.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jul 13). Comment on Hypselodoris saintvincentius or H. infucata by Brad Cox. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20117

Factsheet

Hypselodoris infucata

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