Doto cf. rosacea
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Dotidae
PHOTO
Locality: Old Woman Island, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, 12 m, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 04 October 2008, Subtidal. Length: 11mm. Photographer: Gary Cobb.
We know little about Doto rosacea Baba, 1949 other than its original description. It was described as having seven pairs of papillae (cerata) with tubercles arranged in at least 3 circlets, each circlet having up to 5 tubercles. The tubercles are described as being elongate. The upper edge of the rhinophore sheaths are lobate with 5 lobes. In general terms the animal photographed here fits that description but the colour does not.
Baba describes the body and the cerata as being rose pink, with clusters of white dots down the middle of the back and on the rhinophore sheaths. That is quite different from this animal which has a white body with distinct pink or orange spots scattered over the body.
Until we know more about animals matching Baba's original description, I feel we should be cautious and call this species Doto cf. rosacea.
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Baba, K. (1949) Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty The Emperor of Japan. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoyen
Rudman, W.B., 2008 (November 25) Doto cf. rosacea [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/dotocfrosa
