Hypselodoris cf. whitei
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Hawaii?
PHOTO
UPPER: Hawaii - Scott Johnson. [see message below].
LOWER: A, H. maridadilus. B, H. whitei - 'typical' colour forms PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.
This chromodorid from Hawaii seems to have features of both Hypselodoris maradadilus [Fig A] from the Indian Ocean, and Hypselodoris whitei [Fig B] from the Pacific. In general appearance it looks like H. maridadilus, with uniform background colour, but like H. whitei in the white tipped rhinophores and gills. However it differs from both in having the whole upper edge of each gill lined with opaque white. Gosliner & Johnson note that the two species can be differentiated on the arrangement of the mantle glands. In H. maradadilus they are found all around the mantle edge except around the anterior end. In H. whitei they are packed all around the mantle edge except for a break halfway along each side. The photo above shows an Hawaiian animal with this break along the side, but if you look at the lower right photo from New Caledonia on the H. whitei page you will see an animal which seems to have a continuous row of mantle glands along the whole side. I am not sure what it all means but I think the situation still needs clarification.
See Scott Johnson's record of this colour form from Marshall Ids [#1864]
References:
• Bertsch, H. & Johnson, S. (1981) Hawaiian nudibranchs, a guide for SCUBA divers, snorkelers, tidepoolers, and aquarists. 1st ed. Oriental Publishing Co., Honolulu, Hawaii. 112 pp pages.
• Gosliner, T.M. & Johnson, R.F. (1999) Phylogeny of Hypselodoris Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) with a review of the monophyletic clade of Indo-Pacific species, including descriptions of twelve new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 125: 1-114.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (February 13) Hypselodoris cf. whitei [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/hypscfwh
