Unknown dorid from France
December 21, 2000
From: Alex Vanhaelen
Dear Bill,
My name is Alex VANHAELEN, from Belgium. This dorid was spotted by an acquaintance (Christian PIRON) at ERQUY (N.E. Atlantic-France - northern coast of Brittany) at the end of september 2000.
Length: 8 to 9 cm.; Number: 5 to 6 animals, sighted by several divers; Depth: 10 m.;
Eggs: ribbon, about 4 cm. in breadth, color pale yellow. They were seen on several algae, sponges and hydrozoa.
1) The surface of the back appears to be without knobs, quite smooth.
2) I spotted darker spots on the side of the back.
3) I counted about 10 to 11 gills in the branchial plume, which looks a pale purple.
I wonder if it is in the genus Jorunna, but I'm not sure and I have certainly no idea about the species name. Due to the presence of several individuals + egg ribbons, I consider this an established population and not an accidental one (e.g. an aquariologist's dump). I know of a Jorunna tomentosa in our area (UK-France-Belgium-Netherlands) but that species has never been pictured with a pantherlike color pattern.
I usd Mr PICTON's field guide, THOMPSON & BROWN 1976, De Nederlands zeenaaktslakken (= The Dutch Opisthobranchs) from SWENNEN en DEKKER (KNNV 183-sept 1987) and browsed through a lot of webpages, but to no avail. Can you help me in identifying this dorid ?
Many thanks for your help.
Alex VANHAELEN
Belgium
a_vanhaelen@hotmail.com
Vanhaelen, A., 2000 (Dec 21) Unknown dorid from France. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3295Dear Alex,
I am not an expert on the Atlantic fauna but I think your animal is Dendrodoris limbata. See Angel Valdes' discussion below on northeastern Atlantic dendrodorids. He will certainly be able to tell us if I am right or not and whether your find outside the Mediterranean is particularly unusual.
Species of Jorunna have a furry appearance because their mantle is covered with small spiculate tubercles called caryophyllidia. I have photographs of these on the pages for Jorunna funebris and J. pantherina.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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