Red spotted Nembrotha from Philippines

Note added 29 Jan. 2002: On the arrival of more photos I don't think this colour form is Nembrotha guttata. - Bill Rudman

Dear Erwin,
Thanks for these photos. They greatly help to clarify at least one of these red-spotted species. I am pretty sure this is the species described by Nathalie Yonow from the Maldives as Nembrotha guttata. This species was described from a single animal so it is fortunate that you have provided a number of photos showing enough colour variation to allow us to match this varaible animals with her description.

Basically the animal is black with scattered orange pustules. Yonow says that about 30% od the orange pustules are edged in green. This does not seem to be the case in your photos but in one animal (ek128001) a few green pustules are visible. The biggest difference concerns the rhinophores and their pockets. Yonow describes the rhinophores as black with orange dusting on the anterior sides of the lamellae. While ek127204 shows signs of orange dusting on the lamellae there is a variation from complete black to a pale almost white dusting. She describes the rhinophore pockest as black with an orange edge. Traces of this orange edge can be seen in ek128001, but in ek127204 it appears translucent green, and in others the whole sheath is heavily dusted in white. No mention is made of the white patch at the base of each rhinophore pocket which occurs in all your photos except ek125401.

This is a good example of how dangerous it is to name new species on a single animal.

I think that the animals in three previous messages message 1 message 2 message 3, can be transferred from the "Red-spotted page" to N. guttata. The other 'species' we have to consider is the one I have identified as an orange-tinged Nembrotha cristata. I wondered whether this was a link between N. cristata and N. guttata but apart from the general shape, I think the gill colouration in N. cristata, with light green on the outer edge, is probably a unique character of N. cristata.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman