Bornella hermanni Angas, 1864 - original painting

January 27, 2009
From: Bill Rudman

To complement the Fact Sheet on Bornella hermanni, which Angas (1864) described and illustrated from Sydney Harbour, here is a scan of the original watercolour from the collections of the Australian Museum Library. It clearly shows the three pairs of dorsolateral processes, which are one of the characters differentiating this species from B. stellifer. Although the published colour painting (Angas, 1864: Pl VI, fig. 1) does not show the colour pattern clearly, Angas was a skilled and accurate artist and in the original painting the colour pattern of white specks, broken orange lines, white papillae and lack of orange rings on the dorso-lateral papillae, are accurately recorded. Bornella hermanni is not uncommonly found in central and southern New South Wales.

I have also included a photo of a specimen photographed by me from Sydney for comparison.

Photo: AM C113793, Australia, New South Wales, Sydney, N. Collaroy Long Reef, 33°44.600’S, 151°18.600’E, one specimen 10 mm preserved, 2 December 1978, Photo: Bill Rudman.

Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Jan 27) Bornella hermanni Angas, 1864 - original painting. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22192

Copyright © Australian Museum, 1998-2010