Doris ocelligera
(Bergh, 1881)

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

PHOTO

Numana, 12.5 metres, Italy, Adriatic Sea, 20 May 2006, on shipwreck. Length: 25 mm. Photographer: Cristian Magnani.

The body is a translucent brownish colour with relatively large rounded tubercles of a lighter colour than the background colour of the mantle and with a darker spot at the tip, giving the tubercles the look of a tube or siphon. The rhinophores are white, and the rhinophore sheath consists mainly of a pair of tubercles sitting opposite one another. The gills, about 9 in number, are simple and unipinnate. This species seems to be rarely reported. This is a relatively small species, the 25 mm specimen illustrated here being larger than any other record I can find. 

  • Schmekel, L. & Portmann, A. (1982) Opisthobranchia des Mittelmeeres, Nudibranchia und Saccoglossa. Fauna Flora Golfo Napoli 40: 1-410.
Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (September 7) Doris ocelligera (Bergh, 1881). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/doriocel

Related messages


Another UK sighting of Doris ocelligera

August 21, 2009
From: David Kipling

Concerning message #22611:

Dear Bill,

This is our second sighting in the UK of Doris ocelligera. If you look closely you can see that there are actually two animals, overlapping each other. Both this and the earlier specimen were recorded in very similar habitats - weed covered wrecks at about 25 m.

Locality: Wreck of the Epsilon, near Falmouth, Cornwall, 24 m, United Kingdom, Atlantic, 27 July 2004, Weed-covered wreck with many jewel and plumose anemones. Length: 15 mm. Photographer: David Kipling.

Best regards

David Kipling
Cardiff, UK

plankton@dircon.co.uk

Kipling, D., 2009 (Aug 21) Another UK sighting of Doris ocelligera. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22612

Thanks David,

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK

August 21, 2009
From: Julia Nunn

Concerning message #21978:

Hi Bill

Some years ago (2004) I saw several animals of the species Doris ocelligera collected by dredging and dives in Lyme Bay, Dorset. These are, to my knowledge, the first records from the UK, although there have been several seen subsequently.

  • Station 2 50o 41.61'N 02o 55.87'W dredge 21.1m 8 May 2004
    1 specimen - pale yellow colour size approx. 9 x 5 mm. Collected by Celia Pain, and identified by myself.
  • Station 14 50o 40.88'N 02o 48.01'W dive 9 May 2004
    sample collected by Lin Baldock and processed/identified by myself.
    1 specimen - pale yellow colour size approx. 7 x 3 mm. The photo of this specimen was taken by Lin Baldock.
  • Station 18 50o 42.40'N 02o 48.16'W dive 9 May 2004
    sample collected by Lin Baldock and processed/identified by myself
    1 specimen - pale yellow colour size approx. 7 x 3 mm

The specimens had 8 pinnate gills, the rhinophores about 7 lamellae. The rhinophores had a pair of guarding tubercules, and the back was covered by conical very spiculose tubercules, which had a characteristic brownish mark on each tip.

Locality: Lyme Bay, Dorset, 15-20 m, England, UK, Atlantic, May 2004, rocky reefs. Length: 7-9 mm. Photographer: Lin Baldock.

Best wishes
Julia Nunn

jdn@cherrycottage.myzen.co.uk

Nunn, J.D., 2009 (Aug 21) Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22598

Dear Julia,

Thanks for this interesting record. I have also just received a couple of messages from David Kipling [#22611, #22612] with records of this species from the UK. One of his predates yours by a few months. What really matters is that all three records are a valuable contribution to our knowledge. When we consider how well the British coast has been studied, records of a previously unrecorded species, are exciting. They certainly suggest that in recent years at least, this species has made the south coast of the UK part of its range.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Aug 21). Comment on Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK by Julia Nunn. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22598

First sighting of Doris ocelligera in the UK

August 21, 2009
From: David Kipling

Concerning message #21978:

Dear Bill,

Here is a picture of Doris ocelligera that Sarah and I saw in Cornwall in 2003. It has only recently been identified (by Bernard Picton), and until then had been languishing in a section of our digital picture archive labeled "we don't know what this is"!

Locality: Wreck of the Alice Marie, Mount's Bay, Penzance, 25 m, Cornwall, United Kingdom, Atlantic, 25 June 2003, Wreck covered with weed and short animal turf on sandy seabed. Photographer: David Kipling.

We saw two additional specimens the following year slightly east of this location, which I will submit in a second post [message #22612].

Best regards

David Kipling
Cardiff, UK

plankton@dircon.co.uk

Kipling, D., 2009 (Aug 21) First sighting of Doris ocelligera in the UK. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22611

Dear David,

I have just received a message from Julia Nunn [#22598] with a record of this species from Devon in May 2004. As I note in her message, it is very valuable to get three separate observations like this. It certainly appears to be more than a single strange event. 

With records from the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal (Cervera et al, 2006), this increases its known distribution  as far north as the UK.

  • Cervera, J. L., Calado, G., Gavaia, C., Malaquias, M. A. E., Templado, J., Ballesteros, M., Garci­a-Gomez, J. C., & Megina, C. (2006) An annotated and updated checklist of the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Spain and Portugal (including islands and archipelagos). Boleti­n Instituto Espanol de Oceanografi­a  20: 1-122.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Aug 21). Comment on First sighting of Doris ocelligera in the UK by David Kipling. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22611

Doris ocelligera from Arcachon bassin, France

October 29, 2008
From: Michel Barrabés

Concerning message #17678:

Hello,
I see Doris ocelligera seems really rare. I have seen it three times in Bassin d'Arcachon between 1997 and now. It looks like a young Doris verrucosa, but with black spotss at the tips of tubercles, and they are smaller : 20 mm max. They were living on rocky outcrops. Here are two pictures I shot on 17 July 1999 by night at Cap-Ferret, Bassin d'Arcachon, France ( Atlantic coast)

Locality: Chez Hortense, Cap-Ferret, (33950), 5 to 10 meters, Bassin d'Arcachon, France, Atlantic Ocean, 17 July 1999, Artificial rocky support. Length: 10 to 15 mm. Photographer: Michel Barrabés.

Best regards
Michel Barrabés

michel.barrabes@wanadoo.fr

Barrabés, M, 2008 (Oct 29) Doris ocelligera from Arcachon bassin, France. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21978

Dear Michel,

It is nice to see more pictures of this species. Most of the recent records of this dorid are from Italy, so it is interesting to see specimens from the French Atlantic coast.

Best wishes,
Bernard Picton

Picton, B.E., 2008 (Oct 29). Comment on Doris ocelligera from Arcachon bassin, France by Michel Barrabés. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21978

Doris ocelligera from Italy

September 8, 2006
From: Cristian Magnani

Dear Bill,
Last May while diving on my usual dive spot, I found a nudibranch I had never seen previously. I think it is a specimen of  Doris ocelligera and wish to add my picture to the forum since this nudibranch is not included in your species list.

Locality: Numana, 12.5 metres, Italy, Adriatic Sea, 20 May 2006, on shipwreck. Length: 25 mm. Photographer: Cristian Magnani.

Best regards
Cristian
http://www.nudibranchi.it/Eng_main.htm

info@nudibranchi.it

Magnani, C., 2006 (Sep 8) Doris ocelligera from Italy. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17678

Thanks Cristian,
It's good to add another species to the Forum. Your animal does seem to be Doris ocelligera. I guess the name ocelligera comes from the eye-like tubercles on its mantle. They look a bit like the eyes of a chameleon. However I suspect their real purpose is to look like pores or siphons on a sponge or ascidian colony so as to disguise the slug against predators. It is good to get a photo of the egg ribbon as well.

After looking at your photos, I am pretty sure the unidentified dorid from Tunisia [message #9885] which I tentatively identified as Doris ocelligera, is the same thing.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Sep 8). Comment on Doris ocelligera from Italy by Cristian Magnani. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17678

Dorid from Tunisia

July 29, 2003
From: J. Ben Souissi and A. Eters


Dear Bill,
Here is another dorid from our coastal lagoon, "Lac de Tunis" [south section] in Tunis, Tunisia, North Africa. Depth: 0 to 1m some time between January and March, 2003.

Can you identify it please.
Thanks,
Jamila Ben Souissi and Anis Eters

bensouissi.jamila@inat.agrinet.tn

Ben Souissi, J. & Eters, A., 2003 (Jul 29) Dorid from Tunisia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9885

Dear Jamila & Anis,
My first thought was Doris verrucosa but that species has a number of large tubercles surrounding the gill pocket, and I can see no sign of them in your photos. Another possibility is Doris ocelligera Bergh, 1881, but as I don't have any personal knowledge of that species I would prefer to wait for comments from a colleague with firsthand knowledge of these species
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Jul 29). Comment on Dorid from Tunisia by J. Ben Souissi and A. Eters. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9885