Aphelodoris sp. 2
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Australia
PHOTO
Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. 25mm long alive. October 1978. PHOTO: John Fields.
Although not visible in the photo, this animal has a dull translucent white foot with a pale orange border. According to Burn (1989) who considers each species has a unique geographic range, this is Aphelodoris rossquicki, but it differs considerably from that species in colour pattern. It does however look quite like the animal I am tentatively identifying as Aphelodoris greeni, which is said to be restricted to Northern Tasmania.
References:
•Burn, R. (1966) Notes on opisthobranchs mainly from South Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum, 15: 329-352.
•Burn, R. (1989) Chapter 12. Opisthobranchs: 725-788. In: Marine Invertebrates of South Australia, Part 2. [Eds: S.A.Shepherd., I.M. Thomas]. South Australian Govt. Printing Office: Adelaide.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (April 20) Aphelodoris sp. 2 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/aphesp2
Related messages
Aphelodoris sp. 2? from S.E. Australia
July 8, 2003
From: John Chuk
Dear Bill,
Here are two images of a specimen that appears somewhat similar to Aphelodoris sp.2 on the Forum. The specimen was found at a depth of 4m at Portsea Pier, Victoria, Australia on May 1st, 2003. It measured 53mm in length.
This specimen was found under a rock snuggled up to a large specimen of A. berghi (see separate message). I observed the two for some time and they were seen to take a close interest in each other, repeatedly crawling around each other. Twice they lined up right side to right side but did not actually mate.
Best wishes,
John.
jchuk@giant.net.au
Chuk, J., 2003 (Jul 8) Aphelodoris sp. 2? from S.E. Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10182Thanks John,
I think we still have a bit to learn about Aphelodoris, and just how many species there are. Your animal looks very like Nerida Wilson's photo which I tentatively identified as Aphelodoris greeni, but as you suggest it also looks like Aphelodoris sp. 2. I suspect anatomical differences, if present, will be too difficult to quantify, and we will need to wait until local resarchers can study large populations of these 'species' comparing egg masses, food choice and other aspecus of their natural history and ecology
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
