Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK

August 21, 2009
From: Julia Nunn

Concerning message #21978:

Hi Bill

Some years ago (2004) I saw several animals of the species Doris ocelligera collected by dredging and dives in Lyme Bay, Dorset. These are, to my knowledge, the first records from the UK, although there have been several seen subsequently.

  • Station 2 50o 41.61'N 02o 55.87'W dredge 21.1m 8 May 2004
    1 specimen - pale yellow colour size approx. 9 x 5 mm. Collected by Celia Pain, and identified by myself.
  • Station 14 50o 40.88'N 02o 48.01'W dive 9 May 2004
    sample collected by Lin Baldock and processed/identified by myself.
    1 specimen - pale yellow colour size approx. 7 x 3 mm. The photo of this specimen was taken by Lin Baldock.
  • Station 18 50o 42.40'N 02o 48.16'W dive 9 May 2004
    sample collected by Lin Baldock and processed/identified by myself
    1 specimen - pale yellow colour size approx. 7 x 3 mm

The specimens had 8 pinnate gills, the rhinophores about 7 lamellae. The rhinophores had a pair of guarding tubercules, and the back was covered by conical very spiculose tubercules, which had a characteristic brownish mark on each tip.

Locality: Lyme Bay, Dorset, 15-20 m, England, UK, Atlantic, May 2004, rocky reefs. Length: 7-9 mm. Photographer: Lin Baldock.

Best wishes
Julia Nunn

jdn@cherrycottage.myzen.co.uk

Nunn, J.D., 2009 (Aug 21) Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22598

Dear Julia,

Thanks for this interesting record. I have also just received a couple of messages from David Kipling [#22611, #22612] with records of this species from the UK. One of his predates yours by a few months. What really matters is that all three records are a valuable contribution to our knowledge. When we consider how well the British coast has been studied, records of a previously unrecorded species, are exciting. They certainly suggest that in recent years at least, this species has made the south coast of the UK part of its range.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Aug 21). Comment on Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK by Julia Nunn. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22598

Factsheet

Doris ocelligera

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