Chromodoris westraliensis
(O'Donoghue, 1924)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Chromodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Western Australia

PHOTO

UPPER: Rottnest Island, Perth, Western Australia. 65mm long alive. Inset showing punctate nature of blue region. PHOTO: Bill Rudman.
LOWER LEFT: Transits Reef, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, November 1983.
PHOTO: G. Saueracker.
LOWER RIGHT: Cervantes Island, Western Australia. Showing colour variation.
PHOTO: Clay Bryce.

Chromodoris westraliensis is apparently endemic to Western Australia. The top photo shows the "typical" colour form described by O'Donoghue. In this the black forms a band which is against the inside edge of the orange marginal band. There is also a solid black patch breaking the blue patch into an anterior and posterior section. The gills and rhinophores are distinctly deeper - almost red - in colour than the orange border. However the other photos show that the black line can be separated from the orange border by a white or bluish gap and the black median patch can be absent. In most specimens the blue region is punctate (ie: with fine darker specks), very similar to Chromodoris annae. perhaps this species has evolved in Western Australia from that species? At present there are a number of similarly coloured species occurring on the Western Australian coast which will only be sorted out by further collecting.

Reference:
•Rudman, W.B. (1982c) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris quadricolor, C. lineolata and Hypselodoris nigrolineata colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 76: 183-241.

LOWER LEFT: Transits Reef, Rottnest Island, Western Australia, November 1983. PHOTO: G. Saueracker.
LOWER RIGHT: Cervantes Island, Western Australia. Showing colour variation. PHOTO: Clay Bryce.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (November 19) Chromodoris westraliensis (O'Donoghue, 1924). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/chrowest

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