Chromodoris hamiltoni from east Africa

July 5, 2001
From: Bernard Picton

Hi Bill,
Here are some scans of Chromodoris hamiltoni from Pemba Island, Tanzania, Feb 1999. I saw about ten animals of this species altogether and these photos indicate the range of variation in that population at that time. Notably the black markings on the blue background seemed to be blurred at the edges, making them look 'out of focus'. The variation of markings was not very wide, making me question whether the variety which you illustrate at bottom right on the web page and which Valda Fraser sent on February 11,
2000 is really the same species.

Given that selection pressures are strong enough to produce such a good mimic as Hypselodoris regina I wonder if there is another species here, indeed is it the same as Chromodoris cf. colemani? I have sent three scans of these from the Philippines in a separate message but on looking through other pictures I have from Philippines and Bali there seems to be a series linking these entities. I'll send a couple of other photos tomorrow.

Bernard

bernard.picton.um@nics.gov.uk

Picton, B., 2001 (Jul 5) Chromodoris hamiltoni from east Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4744

Thanks Bernard,
It's good to see my old friend, C. hamiltoni from Tanzania again and gald that you also think it is a good species. At times when I am puzzling over this Chromodoris cf. colemani and Chromodoris cf. africana group I wonder just where one species ends an another begins. I named C. hamiltoni after my first graduate student, Hamish Hamilton, who was tragically killed in an accident 2 days before his graduation ceremony so I hope it survives any taxonomic shake up.

Concerning these animals with brown lines. In some cases, as in some specimens of C. hamiltoni the orange-brown lines seem to replace the normal black lines, while in others, including C. colemani the orange-brown lines seem to be a normal part of the colour pattern. It seems that the first step in sorting this group out is determining in which cases the orange-brown line is just replacing a 'normal' black line and in which cases it is itself the 'normal' colour.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Jul 5). Comment on Chromodoris hamiltoni from east Africa by Bernard Picton. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4744

Factsheet

Chromodoris hamiltoni

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