Chromodoris aspersa from the Red Sea

February 1, 2001
From: Gordon T. Smith


Dear Bill,

Could you verify identification of these nudibranchs which I believe to be Chromodoris aspersa. Photographed in the Red Sea, size and depth unrecorded.

Regards
Gordon

aquashot@emirates.net.ae

Smith, G.T., 2001 (Feb 1) Chromodoris aspersa from the Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3652

Dear Gordon,
Yes this is a colour form of C. aspersa which seems restricted to the Red Sea. Gohar & Soliman (1967) illustrate it from Egypt and I have studied specimens from the Sudan (Rudman, 1983). It differs from the typical Indo-West Pacific form in having larger and slightly raised purple spots. The diffuse ring surrounding each spot is much less obvious in Red Sea specimens. I compared the anatomy of Red Sea and Indo-West Pacific animals some time ago and could find no distinctive differences.

Reference:
• Rudman, W.B. (1983) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris splendida, C. aspersa and Hypselodoris placida colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 78: 105-173.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Feb 1). Comment on Chromodoris aspersa from the Red Sea by Gordon T. Smith. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3652

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Chromodoris aspersa

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