Risbecia ghardaqana ? from Muscat, Oman

September 21, 2007
From: Yahia Mokhtar


Hi,

The attached photo was taken in Muscat. Seems like a Chromodoris annulata however no 'circles' are present. Could it be a deformed nudibranch, or Chromodoris rufomaculata?

Locality: Town, 10m, Oman, Muscat, Indian Ocean, 2 June 2007. Length: 1cm ??. Photographer: Yahia Mokhtar.

Yahia Mokhtar

yahia@adma.ae

Mokhtar, Y., 2007 (Sep 21) Risbecia ghardaqana ? from Muscat, Oman. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20755

Dear Yahia,

It certainly looks like C. annulata, but there are a group of yellow-spotted species from the northwestern Indian Ocean which are still a problem to identify [see my message #9625]. When I first saw your photos I thought that at last we had photos of Risbecia ghardaqana, which I can't confidently say I have actually seen. In the original description, it was said to differ from the more common Risbecia pulchella in having no purple patches on the mantle, a bluish edge to the mantle, and to not have the broadened mantle skirt around the head end. We can say that your animal fits that description rather well, but the gills are all wrong. In the description of R. ghardaqana there were a maximum of 10 gills, and they did not vibrate or wave rhythmically. In your photos there are more than 20 gills and from the blur in some photos I am pretty sure these gills are waving rhythmically.

I am not sure what is going on so all I can do is say this is probably Risbecia pulchella.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Sep 21). Comment on Risbecia ghardaqana ? from Muscat, Oman by Yahia Mokhtar. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20755

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