Archidoris wellingtonensis from Dunedin, NZ

Dear Megan,
This is a not uncommon New Zealand dorid, Archidoris wellingtonensis, which as you will see on the Forum, also occurs in southeastern Australia. As you will see in my comment to a recent message [#20329] we are in a state of confusion at present over just what genus to put this species in. Recent studies suggest that the type species of Archidoris and the type species of Doris should be in the same genus, which means that Archidoris is a synonym of Doris. The problem is that no one has compared the anatomy of 'Archidoris' wellingtonensis to see whether it should have been in Archidoris in the first place. Until that is clarified there is no point in moving it to Doris. So at present I am going to continue to call this species Archidoris wellingtonensis, which is the name it has always been known by.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman