Cuthona yamasui from Oman

February 8, 2006
From: Laurence Gautier


I viewed this in Musandam (Sultanate of Oman) in october 2005, by night. I think it's a Cuthona [H. Debelius called this Cuthona kanga in his book "nudibranch and sea snails "]

Locality: Pearl island, Musandam, Sultanate of Oman. Indian Ocean. Depth: 10 meters. Length: 4 cm. October 2005. Photographer: Laurence Gautier

Please can you give me your opinion.
Thanks Bill.
L. Gautier

laugautier@wanadoo.fr

Gautier, L., 2006 (Feb 8) Cuthona yamasui from Oman. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15758

Dear Laurence,
I'm afraid not all colour picture books have correct identifications. I have discussed this identification in an earlier message. It is in fact Cuthona yamasui. Unfortunately  Cuthona kanga was described from a single 5 mm long specimen so we can't be sure of its colour varaiation. However the animal was sexually mature suggesting it is a much smaller species than C. yamasui.  One major difference is the nature of the ceratal colouration. While there are general similarities in the colour of the cerata, Malcolm Edmund's description of C. kanga clealry states that the blue and green colouration on the cerata were digestive gland colours seen through a transparent ceratal wall. As you can see here, the colours in C. yamasui are pigments on the ceratal skin, and the digestive gland is a finely branched brown duct [see large ceras at right in photo alongside], not a thick solid  unbranched structure filling most of the cerata, as described for C. kanga.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Feb 8). Comment on Cuthona yamasui from Oman by Laurence Gautier. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15758

Factsheet

Cuthona yamasui

Related messages

  1. Trinchesia yamasui from Gulf of Kachchh
    From: Vinod Gajjar, April 12, 2010
  2. Cuthona yamasui aggregation
    From: Brian Mayes, August 19, 2009
  3. Cuthona yamasui? from Indonesia
    From: Linda Ianniello, August 29, 2008
  4. Colour form of Cuthona yamasui
    From: Mirjam Broos, February 12, 2008
  5. Cuthona yamasui from the Philippines
    From: Colin Teo, July 7, 2007
  6. Cuthona yamasui from Queensland
    From: Paul Osmond, March 21, 2007
  7. Cuthona yamasui from the Andaman Sea, Thailand
    From: Vie Panyarachun, March 5, 2007
  8. Cuthona yamasui? from Nth Sulawesi
    From: Roberto Sozzani, April 10, 2006
  9. Cuthona yamasui from Tioman Island
    From: Asther M. Lau, March 9, 2004
  10. Cuthona yamasui mating
    From: Erwin Koehler, September 23, 2003
  11. Cuthona yamasui from Indonesia
    From: Linda Ianniello, August 26, 2003
  12. Cuthona yamasui from Borneo
    From: Makoto Uesugi, July 11, 2003
  13. Cuthona yamasui? - colour variation
    From: Nishina Masayoshi, January 2, 2003
  14. Cuthona yamasui from Sumbawa Is, Indonesia
    From: Walabha Sinbul, August 9, 2002
  15. Cuthona yamasui from Myanmar
    From: Boo Nilsson, May 28, 2002
  16. Cuthona? from the Marshall Islands
    From: Scott Johnson, April 12, 2002
  17. Cuthona kanga? from Tanzania
    From: Bernard Picton , March 15, 2002
  18. Cuthona yamasui from Queensland
    From: Bill Rudman, March 15, 2002
  19. Re: Cuthona sp
    From: Erwin Koehler, January 4, 1999
  20. Cuthona kanga? from Philippines
    From: Erwin Koehler, December 23, 1998

Show factsheet and all related messages