Spanish Dancer from Sydney

July 11, 2007
From: Donald Miles


Hi,

This fantastic spanish dancer was found at Long Reef Marine Reserve in a large tidal rock pool. could you please let us know the scientific name for this particular specimen.

Locality: Long Reef, rock platform, Collaroy, Sydney, NSW, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 30 March 2007, Tidal rock pool. Length: 200 mm. Photographer: Don Miles.

Thanks,
Don Miles
AUSECO

auseco@optusnet.com.au

Miles. D.W., 2007 (Jul 11) Spanish Dancer from Sydney. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20185

Dear Don,
If you are looking for something on the Forum like a scientific name its always worth using the Forum search box on top left of every page. I dont encourage common names but the Spanish Dancer is one that is definitely in common use. It scientific name is Hexabranchus sanguineus [hexa = six; branchus = gills; sanguineus = blood red].

I am glad you didn't find the scientific name yourself because I migth never have found out you had found this species in Sydney. I know I often tell people you have to expect to find tropical species in Sydney every now and then but I must say this is the first time I have heard of this icon of tropical waters being found this far down the New South Wales coast.

For thos of you who don't know Long Reef, it is a rocky reef jutting out at right angles from the shore like an arm outstretched to catch larvae washing past. I remember seeing a list of the tropical cowries in the Australian Museum collections from Long Reef, and if you didn't know where it was you would have been sure, from the number of species on the list, that Long Reef must be in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, rather than the temperate waters of central New South Wales. But the list was an accumulation of finds over 100 years not from a day or a week. Be that as it may, I still find it amazing that Sydney has played host to a Spanish Dancer for sufficient time for it to grow to 200 mm.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jul 11). Comment on Spanish Dancer from Sydney by Donald Miles. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20185

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Hexabranchus sanguineus

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