Okenia cf. hiroi
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: ANADORIDOIDEA
Family: Goniodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Known only from records in Forum from northeastern New Zealand.
PHOTO
Poor Knights Islands, NE New Zealand. Depth: 10m. Length: 12mm. 15 January 2005, Rocky reef. Lower photo showing animal in situ on food bryozoan. Photographer: Ian Skipworth
Note added 10 Dec. 2007: This species is most probably the recently named species from eastern Australia, Okenia atkinsonorum [see message #21273].
This is most probably Okenia hiroi, a species known only from the NW Pacific (China, Korea, Japan). If it is in fact that species its presence in New Zealand is almost certainly a result of shipping. We would need to examine its anatomy to be 100% sure, but it appears identical in colour and very simialr in shape to Yukari Sato's photos of animals from Tsuruga Bay, Japan [see message #11399]. The only obvious external difference I can see is that usually in Okenia hiroi the mid dorsal mantle papilla is nearer the gills, and there are a pair of papillae just in front of the gills, and slightly behind the mid dorsal mantle papilla. Whether it is a new species or not, it is indeed a new record from New Zealand.
Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (January 26) Okenia cf. hiroi [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/hopkcfhiro
