Chromodoris quadricolor and egg ribbon

December 4, 2007
From: Vittorio Bruzzone

Concerning message #21197:

Dear Bill,
Thanks a lot for your reply.
Frankly speaking I have no scientific experience but I dive frequently and I have a quantity of pics of nudibranchs, crabs, and so on...

Here is another of Chromodoris quadricolor from the same dive laying eggs

Locality: Jeddah, 10 meters, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, 19 November 2007. Length: 30 mm. Photographer: Vittorio Bruzzone.

Thanks for your reply...
Vittorio Bruzzone

vittorio@bruzzone.it

Bruzzone, V., 2007 (Dec 4) Chromodoris quadricolor and egg ribbon. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21245

Dear Vito,

Although experience is valuable, what is equally important is good eyesight and a keen interest in these animals. This message is an excellent example of how interested amateurs with "no scientific experience' can make valuable discoveries. If you look at earlier messages [see #15980] you will see we have been trying to discover just what sort of egg ribbon C. quadricolor has. Two Egyptian biologists in 1959 reported it had an egg ribbon which was attached flat on the rock [see flat-egg ribbons] but no one has ever reported the egg ribbon of this species again. Since 1959 it has become quite important to find what sort of egg ribbon it has because it seems the genus Chromodoris may be a mixture of two or more unrelated groups. One group, which like C. quadricolor has black lines down the mantle, seems to be quite distinct from the others. It has been speculated that C. quadricolor will have a flat egg ribbon and now your photo has confirmed that indeed it does.

Also in the photo is the grey sponge, Semitaspongia, which was present in your earlier message. Many of the 'flat egg ribbon' species eat Semitaspongia or related sponges.

  • Gohar, H. A. F. and Aboul-Ela, I. A. (1959) On the biology and development of three nudibranchs (from the Red Sea). Publications of the Marine Biological Station, Al-Ghardaqa, Egypt 10: 41-62.

Thanks for these valuable photos,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Dec 4). Comment on Chromodoris quadricolor and egg ribbon by Vittorio Bruzzone. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21245

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