Aphelodoris brunnea? from South Africa (1)

September 10, 2002
From: Lindsay Warren

Dear Bill,
I hope you had a good and restful break - well deserved! And now to 'plague' you with more finds! Earlier this year we were diving off Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Amongst our 'finds' were hordes of what I took to be Aphelodoris brunnea Bergh, 1907 although I am now having doubts. We found well over.... of these during the course of two dives. These along with Leminda millecra and Janolus capensis were extremely abundant.

These Aphelodoris were very variable in their markings although the overall colour of the mantle consisted of a white background with mottled brown markings of varying intensity of colour. The sides of the foot were white with some mottled brown patches. In Bergh's description he says that the body is 'quite smooth' as does Gosliner, 1987. However, I found that while soft and smooth to the touch, the mantle is covered in small tubercles/wrinkles as can be seen in the photos of a few of the specimens we found. The gills were white, speckled with brown while the rhinophores featured white stems and pale yellow clubs; the rhinophore sheaths were about just short of half the length of the rhinophore with a slightly 'ragged' edge and had the same coloration as the notum. Bergh says that "the club of the rhinophores [were] brownish, so, too, the rhachides of the gill-leaves."
This would seem to say that the gills and rhinophore clubs were close in coloration while the specimens we found were not.

I have attached photos of three specimens to show the variation. Some have been preserved in alcohol and are in the process of being lodged and registered with the Natural History Museum, London.

UPPER RIGHT: LCRW0008 24 February 2002 around 9.15 am at a depth of 10m along with over 30 other specimens. Water temp: 15C.
Length: 35 mm.
LOWER LEFT: LCRW0006 was found by Kevin Reed on 23 February 2002 at midday at a depth of 13m, water temp: 16C; L: 45 mm.
LOWER RIGHT: LCRW0011 24 February 2002 around 9.15 am at a depth of 10m along with over 30 other specimens. Water temp: 15C.
Length: 35 mm.

In another message I have sent details of another very similar specimen. I would be very interested to know what you think of all these specimens and whether you think that this identification is correct.

All the very best,
Lindsay

alldcl@compuserve.com

Warren, L., 2002 (Sep 10) Aphelodoris brunnea? from South Africa (1). [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7890

Thanks Lindsay,
I have posted some of your photos in a separate message. Concerning their identity they certainly look to me as though they are colour variants. In fact the animal you thought might be different looks more like the one Terry Gosliner identifies as A. brunnea than the others do. It is diificult to know how much weight to give to Bergh's colour descriptions. Sometimes they are based on the colour of preserved specimens - although he doesn't always make that clear. Looking at your photos it seems the brown colouration on the rhinophores and gills is very variable - certainly Fig 82 in Gosliner (1987) shows brown pigmentation on gills and rhinophores. My guess is all these photos yu have sent are of Aphelodoris brunnea - but I speak as an 'armchair expert' as have never seen the species alive or in situ.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Sep 10). Comment on Aphelodoris brunnea? from South Africa (1) by Lindsay Warren. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7890

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