Dendrodoris elongata
Baba, 1936

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Dendrodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Tropical Indo-West Pacific.

PHOTO

UPPER: Adult, with characteristic mottled colour pattern. Animal fully extended in leech-like behaviour. LOWER: Juvenile animal with brown spotted colour pattern. Noumea, New Caledonia, October 1988. PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.

The animal characteristically elongates by forming the posterior end of the foot into a temporary sucker, and then greatly extends the anterior end, much like a leech or the aplysiid Dolabrifera dolabrifera. The edge of the mantle can be very thin and folded and the gill pocket is placed much nearer the posterior end of the bady than is normal in cryptobranch dorids. In juveniles the dark spots are much more clearly defined, while in larger specimens, the background colour becomes a more translucent grey, and the spots, which are sometimes linked, are a lighter brown and more diffuse. As I mention under Dendrodoris albobrunnea, there are earlier names for both these species.

Reference:
• Baba, K. (1936). Opisthobranchia of the Ryukyu (Okinawa) Islands. Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Kyushu Imperial University, 5(1): 1-50, Pl. 1-3.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (April 18) Dendrodoris elongata Baba, 1936. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/dendelon

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