New species of Dendrodoris? from sthn Queensland [1]

February 9, 2008
From: Gary Cobb


Hi Bill and everyone!
I am pleased to announce to you that we have found a new species of Dendrodoris. When I first spotted it crawling along the substrate I thought it was a Dermatobranchus. After getting home and looking at the photos and ones I took just before ... it was discovered that it is a Dendrodoris.

Locality: Old Woman Island, Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, 14 m, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 27 October 2007, Subtidal. Length: 40 mm. Photographer: Gary Cobb.

I will send you another message with more photos [message #21077 ]
Cheers,
Gary Cobb

gary@nudibranch.com.au

Cobb, G.C., 2008 (Feb 9) New species of Dendrodoris? from sthn Queensland [1]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21076

Dear Gary,
Thanks for this interesting find. It certainly looks superficially like the Dermatobranchus that Marshall & Willan (1999) identify as Dermatobranchus fortunata. Your animal seems to be identical with that illustrated by Atsushi Ono in Opisthobranchs of Ryukyu Islands as Sclerodoris sp. 1.

This leaves me with the task of discussing what I think it is. Firstly I would be interested in why you think it is a species of Dendrodoris? Certainly the flattened shelf-like oral 'tentacles' are similar to some structures found in radula-less dorids like the Phyllidiidae and Dendrodorididae but they are usually more closely associated with the mouth and possibly not homologous with the oral tentacles of the 'radulate' dorids. My feeling is that these structures in your animal are modified oral tentacles attached to the side of the head rather than modifications evolved from around the mouth.

I think the first thing we would need to do is have a look at the internal anatomy to see if there is a radula present. Thanks also for the additional photos in your second message [#21077]. Hopefully one of the many working on dorids at present can give us some clues to its identity.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Feb 9). Comment on New species of Dendrodoris? from sthn Queensland [1] by Gary Cobb. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21076

Factsheet

Sclerodoris ? sp.1.

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