Doriopsilla aurea
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dendrodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Southern Australia from New South Wales to Western Australia.

PHOTO

UPPER RIGHT: A, Sisters Is., NW Tasmania, 15m, August 1985, AMC147654. B, Mutton Bird Is., Coffs Harbour region, New South Wales, March 1988, 16mm long. C, southern Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, February 1985. 7mm long.
LOWER LEFT: southern Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, February 1985. juvenile, 12mm long.
LOWER RIGHT: Sisters Is., NW Tasmania, 15m, August 1985, 16mm. PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.

Ranges in colour from a translucent white to deep orange. back covered in soft rounded translucent white pustules. Similar in appearance to Neodoris chrysoderma but can be easily distinguished by the typically reduced dendrodorid head in D. aurea.
Compare with Dendrodoris citrina and Doriopsilla miniata.

Note added 2 Feb 2005: previously called Dendrodoris aurea on Forum

  • Burn, R.F. (1962) Notes on a collection of Nudibranchia (Gastropoda: Dorididae and Dendrodorididae) from South Australia with remarks on the species of Basedow and Hedley, 1905. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, 25: 149-171.
  •  Quoy, J.R. & Gaimard, J.P. (1832). Voyage de decouvertes de L'Astrolabe pendant les annees 1826-1827-1828-1829, sous le commandement de M.J. Dumont D'Urville, Zoologie, 2: 1-686.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (March 13) Doriopsilla aurea (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/dendaure

Related messages


Dendrodoris aurea from South Australia

August 22, 2000
From: Stuart Hutchison


Dear Bill,
I suppose these are Neodoris chrysoderma. The first specimen seemed like an older one and was located in 3m at Whyalla (South Australia) on 14 Aug 2000 and the other was located at Port Hughes in mid 1998 at 7m.
Both were about 2" [5cm] long.

Stuart Hutchison

hutchco@tpg.com.au

Hutchison, S., 2000 (Aug 22) Dendrodoris aurea from South Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2896

Dear Stuart,
Without looking inside, or at least underneath to see the shape of the head, I can't be 100% sure but I think these are the very similarly coloured Dendrodoris aurea. The relatively thin and wide mantle skirt, is more typical of D. aurea than N. chrysoderma.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Aug 22). Comment on Dendrodoris aurea from South Australia by Stuart Hutchison. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2896