Hypselodoris tricolor? from Italy

January 21, 1999
From: Roberto Moresco

Dear dr.Bill Rudman,
I writing to tell you that I have sent you by mail some photos of our adults of Hypselodoris tricolor, collecting in Mar Ligure, and living now in Acquario di Genova. [Ligurian Sea, north western Italy. 25mm long alive.]
Good new year.

Roberto Moresco
Genova
Italy

moresco@freeweb.amicus.it

Moresco, R., 1999 (Jan 21) Hypselodoris tricolor? from Italy. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/500

Dear Roberto,
Thanks for the photos. I am very interested in the blue chromodorids from the Mediterranean because they show a mimicry very similar to the red-spotted species in south-eastern Australia. It would be good to have photos of the other Mediterranean species for comparison as it is such a good example of colour mimicry.

I am not an expert on Mediterranean chromodorids so I hesitate to suggest that your animals may not be H. tricolor but they look very like the animal illustrated in the Atlas of Mediterranean Nudibranchs (Pl 4, fig 6) as Hypselodoris messinensis.

Also, in your earlier message you describe the larvae as lasting for some days as feeding veligers, while Haefelfinger (1969) suggests that H. tricolor has direct development, with no veliger stage. Haefelfinger also reports that H. messinensis has much smaller eggs indicative of planktotrophic larvae. Is it possible you have H. messinensis or did Haefelfinger misidentify his material? Most, but not all, photos I have seen identified as H. tricolor are of a dark blue animal with a yellow-orange border and a white median line. Is that just one colour form of the species? I would be very interested in your thoughts.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman.

References:
• Cattaneo-Vietti, R., Chemello, R. & Gianuzzi-Savelli, R. (1990). Atlas of Mediterranean Nudibranchs. La Conchiglia: Rome.
• Haefelfinger, HR., 1969. Contribution a la systematique des Glossodoridiens mediterraneens (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Rev. Suisse Zool.,76: 703-710.

Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jan 21). Comment on Hypselodoris tricolor? from Italy by Roberto Moresco. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/500

Factsheet

Hypselodoris tricolor

Related messages

  1. Hypselodoris tricolor from Brittany
    From: Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat, September 9, 2009
  2. Hypselodoris tricolor feeding
    From: Antoni López-Arenas i Cama, September 4, 2009
  3. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor, on Cacospongia
    From: M. Baki Yokes, April 3, 2009
  4. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor on Cacospongia
    From: Vincent Maran, November 4, 2008
  5. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor on Cacospongia
    From: Philippe Perrier, November 4, 2008
  6. Hypselodoris tricolor, on Cacospongia
    From: Sylvain Le Bris, November 3, 2008
  7. Hypselodoris tricolor, on a sponge
    From: Stephane Ores, July 19, 2006
  8. Strange structure on Hypselodoris tricolor
    From: Dominique Horst, June 28, 2006
  9. Hypselodoris tricolor - feeding ?
    From: Kerem Turker, June 21, 2006
  10. Re: Another Hypselodoris from Portugal
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia Ossokine, April 26, 2006
  11. Re: Another Hypselodoris from Portugal
    From: Juan Lucas Cervera, April 26, 2006
  12. Another Hypselodoris from Portugal
    From: David Abecasis, April 24, 2006
  13. Hypselodoris tricolor or H. fontandraui
    From: Sylvain Le Bris, June 24, 2005
  14. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor from Croatia
    From: Adam Petrusek, October 8, 2003
  15. Hypselodoris tricolor from Croatia
    From: Adam Petrusek, October 7, 2003
  16. Hypselodoris tricolor or H. bilineata from Turkey
    From: Ferda Buyukbaykal, July 26, 2003
  17. Hypselodoris tricolor from French Mediterranean
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, June 24, 2002
  18. Hypselodoris tricolor from Spain
    From: Luis Sánchez Tocino, October 29, 2001
  19. Juvenile of Hypselodoris tricolor from Spain
    From: Luis Sánchez Tocino, October 29, 2001
  20. More photos of Hypselodoris tricolor
    From: Luis SánchezTocino, October 29, 2001
  21. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor? from Italy
    From: Juan Lucas Cervera, September 28, 2001
  22. Hypselodoris tricolor? from Turkey
    From: Baki Yokes, September 28, 2001
  23. Hypselodoris tricolor or H. midatlantica
    From: Juan Lucas Cervera, February 15, 2001
  24. Hypselodoris tricolor from Spain
    From: Alma Sánchez, February 14, 2001
  25. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor?
    From: Roberto Moresco, January 27, 1999
  26. Re: Hypselodoris tricolor
    From: Erwin Koehler, January 22, 1999

Show factsheet and all related messages