Re: Chromodoris willani & C. boucheti

February 13, 2007
From: Bob Whorton


Concerning message #19417: -

Having looked at another shot from the scene, I think the orange-gilled individual is C. dianae as you first suspected. Pictures of C. lochi, C. willani & C. dianae enclosed.

Thanks for a very detailed analysis Bill, and I agree that these things could just be proximity arousals, which actually lead to nothing... "Ships in the fog" so to speak!

Locality: Halmahera, Indonesia, Halmahera Sea, July 2006, Sandy slope. Length: 3 cm +. Photographer: Bob Whorton.

Cheers,
Bob

drbob.whorton@btinternet.com

Whorton, R., 2007 (Feb 13) Re: Chromodoris willani & C. boucheti. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19444

Dear Bob,
Thanks for the extra photos. Firstly, in your upper photo the left one is obviously C. willani but I am pretty sure the right one is not one of the colour forms of C. dianae. As I said in my earlier comments, the lack of a white speckled mantle [see insets comparing C. willani (left) and C. ? (right)]  makes me pretty sure this is C. boucheti. Also in C. dianae the yellow colour on the gills is confined to the upper half [see Roberto Sozzani's photo (message #15230) showing both these features].  Another difference between C. dianae and C. boucheti is more difficult to quantify, but C. boucheti and C. lochi are more elongate in shape, with a narrower mantle skirt than either of the colour forms of C. dianae. I guess we will never be sure now, but on balance I am pretty sure it is C. boucheti.

The photo alongside is a form of C. lochi with pinkish gills and rhinophores. The greyish colony it is on, with whitish spots, seems to be an ascidian colony rather than a sponge. This ascidian seems to have partially overgrown a sponge colony, which is probably what the chromodorids are feeding on.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Feb 13). Comment on Re: Chromodoris willani & C. boucheti by Bob Whorton. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19444

Factsheet

Chromodoris boucheti

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