Doris cameroni
(Allan, 1947)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Southeastern Australia from northern New South Wales to at least South Australia.
PHOTO
UPPER: Mallacoota, northern Victoria, intertidal - February 1983. 11, 13mm long.
LOWER: West head, Flinders, Western Port Bay, Victoria, March 1986, 10-13mm long.
PHOTOS: Bill Rudman.
Described from a yellow specimen from northern New South Wales, the translucent straw coloured animals photographed are more typically coloured. The dorsum is covered with rounded tubercles, attached to the mantle by a narrower stalk. Each tubercle usually has one black apical spot but sometimes there can be up to three black spots. There are usually two patches of dark brown speckling, one in front of the gills and one just behind the rhinophores. The oral tentacles are flattened and triangular.
Reference:
• Allan, J.K. (1947) Nudibranchia from the Clarence River Heads, north coast, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum, 21: 433-463.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (August 13) Doris cameroni (Allan, 1947). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/doricame
Related messages
Dining on a dorid
November 14, 2007
From: John Chuk
Dear Bill,
Here are two images of a seastar (Coscinasterias muricata) dining on a specimen of Doris cameroni. The seastar is a small specimen and was found on the underside of a rock. Nearby was half a whorl of egg-ribbon belonging to D. cameroni, which may suggest that when the seastar met the dorid it was egg-laying.
Locality: Portsea Pier, 4m, Victoria, Australia, Port Phillip Bay, 27 November 2006. Photographer: John Chuk.
The seastar was reluctant to stop feeding when disturbed, instead it crawled away still firmly holding the nudibranch. This is the first time I've met a seastar feeding on a nudibranch.
Best wishes,
John.
jchuk@giant.net.au
Chuk, J., 2007 (Nov 14) Dining on a dorid. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20953
Thanks John,
I must agree that I have never seen a starfish eat an opisthobranch - and Jan Kocian's messages from the NE Pacific showing starfish rejecting sea slugs certainly suggests your observation is an unusual occurrence - though I guess we don't know what goes on beneath a large starfish as it crawls along. I'll add it to the feeding record page.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Doris cameroni? from Sydney
August 15, 2000
From: Akos Lumnitzer
Dear Bill,
Here is another dorid I am having difficulty identifying.
I found it with sand all over it on cup sponge at Oak Park, Cronulla, {Sydney, New South Wales] during a night dive in May this year, in ten meters of water.
Any ideas?
Best wishes
Akos Lumnitzer
aglphoto@hotmail.com
Lumnitzer, A., 2000 (Aug 15) Doris cameroni? from Sydney. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2884Dear Akos,
I am afraid these nondescript brownish dorids from Australia are very difficult to identify from photographs, even when they have names. I am not sure if the black specks I can see in your photo are on tubercles, or are part of the sediment sitting on the slug's back. If they are on tubercles my best guess is that this is Doris cameroni.
As a first stage in properly identifying these dorids, I would need to know more about the shape of the gills and rhinophores, and the colour and shape of the foot and the head region. If in doubt I would then need to look at their anatomy. Unfortunately many of the descriptions of 'flat' brownish dorids from Australia are inadequate for easy identification, so in many ways the named species are more difficult to identify than the unnamed ones.
Even if I have guessed wrong with this dorid, it is an opportunity to post some information on Doris cameroni, one species which is identifiable.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.
