Chromodoris michaeli
Gosliner & Behrens, 1998

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Philippine Ids.

PHOTO

BEPPH110 - Apo Island, Negros, Philippines, 1 APR 1983, 5cm. BEPPH77 - Dumaguete, Negros, Philippines, 30 MAR 1983. Photos: Bernard Picton.

Background colour of the mantle appear light blue from a fine dusting of white over a translucent bluish-brown ground colour. There is a fine white line at the mantle margin and a broad orange band just in from the edge, which is described as 'uninterrupted' by Gosliner & Behrens but may be broken (see message below). There is a broad black band encircling the mantle just outside the gills andf the rhinophores. This can be broken anteriorly and posteriorly. There are also a few scattered black spots in the midline. In the original description the gills and rhinophores are described as translucent orange. The foot is bluish with an orange border and two or three black lines. The two photos here, and further photos in Bernard Picton's message below suggest this species is more variable in colour than initially thought. If all the photos are the same species then the orange border can be entire or broken and the gills can be translucent orange, can have an orange band up the outside edge, can be translucent white with no orange, or can be orange in the upper half.

It is similar in colour to C. dianae and other species of the C. quadricolor colour group. Like C. annae and C. westraliensis the blue region of the mantle has the punctate pattern which Gosliner & Behrens describe as 'a fine speckling of white'.

Reference:
• Gosliner, T.M. & Behrens, D.W. (1998) Five new species of Chromodoris (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) from the tropical Indo-West Pacific. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 50: 139-165.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (June 21) Chromodoris michaeli Gosliner & Behrens, 1998. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/chromich

Related messages

  1. Chromodoris michaeli from Ningaloo Reef, W Australia
    From: Kristin J Anderson, February 6, 2008
  2. Chromodoris michaeli from Sulawesi
    From: David Thompson, May 15, 2003
  3. Re: Chromodoris michaeli? from the Philippines
    From: Dave Behrens, December 5, 2002
  4. Chromodoris michaeli? from the Philippines
    From: Erwin Koehler, December 4, 2002
  5. Chromodoris from Ashmore Reef
    From: Richard Willan, July 13, 2001
  6. Re: Colour variation in Chromodoris michaeli
    From: Erwin Koehler, July 5, 2001
  7. Chromodoris michaeli from Okinawa
    From: Bob Bolland, June 24, 2001
  8. Colour variation in Chromodoris michaeli
    From: Bernard Picton , June 24, 2001
  9. Re: Chromodoris michaeli? from the Philippines
    From: Erwin Koehler, June 23, 2001

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