Nembrotha chamberlaini from Malaysia?

December 7, 2009
From: Mirjam Broos


Hello Bill,

I really thought we found Nembrotha chamberlaini near Siamil Island, Malaysia (the colour of the gills extends on to the dorsum) but I read on the forum that N. chamberlaini only exists in Indonesia and the Philippines. So is this N. rutilans after all?

Locality: Siamil Island (near Kapalai), Froggy layer, Sabah, Malaysia, 27 september 2009. Photographer: Geert Prast.

best regard,
Mirjam


mirjam.broos@planet.nl

Broos, M., 2009 (Dec 7) Nembrotha chamberlaini from Malaysia?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22877

Dear Mirjam,

One of the exciting things about scientific discovery is that the written 'facts' are only as good as the last observation. At present this species has only been recorded from Indonesia and the Philippines but as you have found a specimen of N. chamberlaini in Malaysia then we will have to change the books. Most new scientific information expands like this by small steps, but as we have seen quite often on the Forum, our knowledge of geographic distribution of species can sometimes expand across an ocean in just one step.

One problem which is still unresolved though is just how many species there are in this colour group of Nembrotha species. Yours certainly fits the 'typical' colour form, but as to how much colour variation should be included in the species is still a puzzle. Photos such as yours can be very valuable in determining just how variable a colour pattern can be.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Dec 7). Comment on Nembrotha chamberlaini from Malaysia? by Mirjam Broos. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22877

Related messages

  1. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding
    From: Dr. Carsten Harfmann, December 7, 2009
  2. Mating brown & green Nembrotha chamberlaini
    From: Kara Miller, September 15, 2009
  3. Re: Unicorn Nembrotha chamberlaini
    From: Marcel Tanke, September 15, 2009
  4. Nembrotha chamberlaini: The ART of laying eggs
    From: Marcel Tanke, September 15, 2009
  5. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding [2]
    From: Marcel Tanke, August 25, 2008
  6. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding, Philippines
    From: Marcel Tanke, July 1, 2008
  7. Unicorn Nembrotha chamberlaini
    From: Marcel Tanke, June 30, 2008
  8. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding at Komodo
    From: Natasja Vandeperre, April 21, 2008
  9. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding on Ascidians (Phillipines)
    From: James McMahon, February 28, 2008
  10. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding
    From: Mike Krampf, April 18, 2007
  11. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding on an ascidian
    From: Paul Osmond, January 19, 2007
  12. Nembrotha chamberlaini from Bali
    From: Erwin Kodiat, October 7, 2003
  13. Nembrotha chamberlaini from the Philippines
    From: Yukari Sato, October 5, 2003
  14. Nembrotha chamberlaini mating
    From: Todd Garthwaite, March 7, 2002
  15. Nembrotha chamberlaini from the Philippines
    From: Mary Jane Adams, January 22, 2002
  16. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding
    From: Terry Gosliner, September 15, 2000
  17. Nembrotha chamberlaini feeding
    From: Erwin Koehler, September 13, 2000
  18. Re: Nembrotha chamberlaini from Indonesia
    From: Pete Vogt, April 19, 1999
  19. Nembrotha chamberlaini from Indonesia
    From: Peter Vogt, February 24, 1999
  20. Observations on Nembrotha chamberlaini
    From: Erwin Koehler, January 8, 1999
  21. Re: Philippines Nembrotha
    From: Terry Gosliner, December 16, 1998
  22. Re: Philippines Nembrotha
    From: Dave Behrens, December 16, 1998
  23. Re: Nembrotha chamberlaini
    From: Terry Gosliner, December 16, 1998
  24. Nembrotha from the Philippines
    From: Erwin Koehler, December 12, 1998

Show factsheet and all related messages