Chromodoris neona
(Marcus, 1955)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Southern Brazil. (Caribbean records probably misidentifications)
PHOTO
São Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Guido Villani
Known from very few records it was described from 2 15-16mm long animals. The ground colour was described as "bright light blue, nearly flourescent" and the rhinophores, gills and pointed posterior tip of the foot are red violet. There is a 'bright 'eosin' red border to the mantle, and there are irregular lines and spots of the same colour on the mantle. There is a red median line down the posterior part of the foot. Marcus describes 6 darker blue areas on each side of the mantle which he identifies as gland cells. The bright bluish tinge that so impressed Marcus is probably an indication that his specimens were juvenile. If we discount the 'bright blue' the animal in Guido Villani's photo is clearly Marcus's C. neona.
"Both C. clenchi and C. binza have in common an hourglass yellow pattern on the dorsum, which is absent in C. neona. However, C. clenchi has well-defined, rounded and violet dorsal spots, surrounded by thin red lines, whereas C. binza has a much more irregular pattern with a red network of lines surrounding irregular pale blue areas". [From Angel Valdes's message distinguishing these three species].
See Angel Valdes' other message discussing this species and the similarly coloured C. binza, C. clenchi and C. britoi.
Reference:
• Marcus, Er. (1955) Opisthobranchia from Brazil. Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras. Universidade de Sao Paulo, Zoologia, 20: 89-261. (Pls. 1-30)
• Ortea, J., Valdés, A. & Espinosa, J. (1994) North Atlantic nudibranchs of the Chromodoris clenchi colour group (Opisthobranchia: Chromododorididae). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 60: 237-248.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (October 10) Chromodoris neona (Marcus, 1955). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/chroneon
Related messages
More on the identity of Chromodoris neona
August 19, 2009
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning message #22560:
To accompany Linda's messages on just what is Chromodoris neona, here are two drawings from Marcus's original description.
In his description Marcus describes the background colour as 'bright light blue' and
"Rhinophores, gills, and the pointed tip of the foot are red violet. The back of the notum is trimmed with bright eosin red border ...... lines and spots of the same colour form an irregular pattern on the notum (black in Fig 90 and 98). ............ A stripe in the midline of the prominent hind end of the foot is also bright red. There are about siz darker blue areas on each side of the notum. These are due to dense accumulations of gland cells ..."
The animal identified as C. neona in the Caribbean Sea Slugs book is not what Marcus described as C. neona. Marcus specifically described the gills and rhinophores as red-violet. I feel that Guido Villani's photo on the species' Fact Sheet fits Marcus's description almost perfectly. Marcus would have described the gills and rhinophores as white with purple tips and added black tips in his drawings if it was the species in Linda's photos [message #22560 ] and the Caribbean Sea Slugs book. The only tip Marcus mentions is the posterior tip of the foot which he describes as red violet - which again fits Guido Villani's photo. Another difference are the large mantle glands described by Marcus on each side of the mantle. In Guido's photo they are present as white rather than deep blue spots, but they are clearly the same anatomical feature. No sign of similar glands can be seen in Linda's photos or those in Caribbean Sea Slugs
I would consider the animal identified as C. neona in Caribbean Sea Slugs to be an unnamed species. I can't find any described species with this combination of white gills and rhinophores with purple tips. I am calling it Chromodoris sp. 17.
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Marcus, Er. (1955) Opisthobranchia from Brazil. Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras. Universidade de Sao Paulo, Zoologia, 20: 89-261. (Pls. 1-30)
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
