Hypselodoris kaname from New Zealand

May 11, 2001
From: Ian Skipworth


Hi Bill
Attached are images of a nudibranch I snapped while diving at the Poor Knights Islands on Anzac Day [April, 2001]. Finding this guy got me quite excited because
I have never seen such a thing before and don't recall ever seeing a photo of anything resembling this from NZ waters.

I found him in 48 metres of water on sand/rubble at the bottom of a near
vertical cliff face - The Giant Staircase. I was somewhat narked at the time so I was delighted to find that I had several good photos of him.

After checking all of your Chromodorids, Hypselodoris fucata is pretty close but not quite right I don't think. Looking in Helmet Debelius' Field Guide (1st Ed.) I found a very similar looking slug on page 214 (the middle one) described only as Chromodoris sp. Anyway, you're the expert and I hope you will be able to help me put a name to it.

I note he has a white patch on top of him and as this looks a little out of place, wondered whether this might be a wound of some sort.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Ian
http://www.ianskipworth.com

ian@ianskipworth.com

Skipworth, I., 2001 (May 11) Hypselodoris kaname from New Zealand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4298

Dear Ian,
This is indeed a surprise! I am sure it is a species, Hypselodoris kaname Baba, 1994, which was described from Japan just a few years ago and has subsequently been reported from Indonesia. As I discuss at the top of the page it is almost certainly the same as a species I described from New Caledonia, Hypselodoris koumacensis Rudman, 1995, a few months after Baba's name was published.

It is definitely a new record for New Zealand. Considering some of the other tropical species you are finding in the Poor Knights Ids, I won't be too surprised if you discover more new records for New Zealand. Concerning the white patch on its back. I agre that it looks like some fish has had a nibble.

Congratulations on the find
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (May 11). Comment on Hypselodoris kaname from New Zealand by Ian Skipworth. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4298

Factsheet

Hypselodoris kaname

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