Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Mozambique.

November 22, 2007
From: David Abecasis


Hi Bill,

I would like your help to identify this nudi. In the beginning I thought it could be Hypselodoris kanga but after reading some more I am not so sure.

Locality: Ponta do Ouro, 16 meters, Moçambique, Indian Ocean, 1 November 2007, rocky. Length: 30 mm. Photographer: David Abecasis

Thanks,

David Abecasis

.

davidbecas@netcabo.pt

Abecasis, D., 2007 (Nov 22) Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Mozambique.. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21142

Dear David,
The first time I found this species, I found a single animal with a single specimen of Hypselodoris kanga. By some amazing chance their larvae had found the same colony of sponge growing on a small concrete pipe in the middle of a sandy beach. The pipe was an outlet pipe from the University of Dar es Salaam's marine station in Tanzania, where I was working at the time. It is Hypselodoris nigrostriata and as one animal was an unnamed species and the other hadn't been seen since its original description almost 70 years before, I too wasn't sure if I had two species or two variations of one species.

Both have the same basic markings and both have gills which are triangular in cross-section but in H. nigrostriata the dark blue lines are long and often diagonal, the yellow patches are large and irregular in size and shape, and the gills are lined with red. In H. kanga, the dark blue marks are usually spots or very rarely, short lines, the yellow spots are small and regular in shape and the gills are lined with red and blue, and there are usually yellow spots along the outer face of each gill. Your animal is what I would call a 'typical' H. nigrostriata. I often comment on the difficulty I have at times separating this species from H. zephyra, a species which is even more similar in colour than H. kanga. In H. zephyra the dark blue lines usually run parallel to each other rather than crossing diagonally, and the gills appear to be simple in shape rather than triangular in cross-section. Unfortunately often in photos the gills are slightly unfocussed and its not possible to determine whether they are simple or triangular so H. zephyra and H. nigrostriata often cause me trouble in photo identifications.

In both these photos and those of  Hypselodoris regina [message #21141 ] your animals are crawling in an area with many colonies of an orange sponge which I doubt is their food.  Supporting that idea is the fact that in all the photos the slugs seem to be avoiding the orange-red colonies.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Nov 22). Comment on Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Mozambique. by David Abecasis. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21142

Factsheet

Hypselodoris nigrostriata

Related messages

  1. Hypselodoris nigrostriata or H. zephyra from Lembeh ?
    From: Sylvain Le Bris, May 19, 2009
  2. Feeding Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Bali
    From: Supapong Areeprasertkul, October 28, 2008
  3. Re: Hypselodoris nigrostriata from United Arab Emirates
    From: William Messruther, September 22, 2008
  4. Re: Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Gulf of Oman
    From: William Messruther, September 17, 2008
  5. Re: Hypselodoris nigrostriata from the United Arab Emirates
    From: Yahia Mokhtar Hafez, December 6, 2007
  6. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from the United Arab Emirates
    From: Yahia Mokhtar, December 5, 2007
  7. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Indonesia
    From: Francois Zylberman, September 27, 2007
  8. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Mauritius
    From: Fabrice Bettex, August 14, 2007
  9. Hypselodoris nigrostriata feeding
    From: Colin Ogden, July 2, 2005
  10. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from the Solomon Ids
    From: Bruce Potter, April 21, 2005
  11. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Thailand
    From: Danny Van Belle, May 20, 2003
  12. Hypselodoris nigrostriata - feeding
    From: Sarah Heaney, March 29, 2003
  13. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Thailand
    From: Bill Rudman, March 21, 2003
  14. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Bali
    From: Danny Van Belle, February 26, 2003
  15. Hypselodoris nigrostriata ? from Bali
    From: Sabine Noack, October 28, 2002
  16. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Sulawesi
    From: Mary Jane Adams, July 10, 2002
  17. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Bali
    From: Stuart Hutchison, July 1, 2002
  18. Hypselodoris nigrostriata? from Lembeh
    From: John Hoover, May 29, 2002
  19. Hypselodoris zephyra? from Japan
    From: Rie Nakano, January 17, 2002
  20. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from South Africa
    From: Valda Fraser, June 8, 2001
  21. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Gulf of Oman
    From: Gordon T. Smith, January 12, 2001
  22. Nembrotha? or Hypselodoris nigrostriata?
    From: Clinton Bauder, June 18, 2000
  23. Hypselodoris nigrostriata? from Papua New Guinea
    From: Wayne Ellis, May 5, 2000
  24. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from Indonesia
    From: Michael Miller, March 5, 1999
  25. Hypselodoris nigrostriata from New Guinea
    From: Wayne Ellis, February 8, 1999

Show factsheet and all related messages